Sky Arcobaleno
by angelslaugh
Summary: ...
1. Chapter 1

"Actually, in Luce's stead for now, I have contracted someone else for this particular mission."

Checkerface gave them a strained smile, moving aside to show a cloaked person.

"Face-san, you didn't tell me I'd be with… _This_ type of people." The husky voice gave the illusion of a male, but the figure let the hood of the cloak fall, showing a gleaming headband. "And what, if I may ask, is a _Sky?"_

There was a silence in the room.

"You contracted _another_ civilian?" The cocking of a gun was all that was heard before a gun spat out a bullet – and the girl simply stood there.

Renato was knocked out of his seat, pinned to the wall by several knives and the stranger.

"Call me civilian again, _civilian,_ and I'll cut out that tongue of yours," the woman snarled in his ear.

"As long as you don't call _me,_ the world's greatest hitman, a civilian, again, we're in agreement," Renato whispered in her ear, audible to the whole room.

"How are you in two place –" Skull was cut off by the image of the woman vanishing.

"Afterimage," Fon said. "Her people are well-known in Triad circles. Nobody messes with the Hidden Continents."

He dipped his head to her in respect.

"You are in the presence of the Strongest Shinobi in the universe," Checkerface said, sounding disgruntled. "And while you are here, I'll tell you about Flames and unlock yours, Naruto-san. For now, rest, I am sure your journey is quite exhausting."

The shinobi nodded and stepped back, Renato falling to the ground as the knives were gone.

The shinobi vanished, an afterimage flickering in the doorway for a moment.

"Don't," Checkerface said, "piss her off. She can kill you _all_ within a few minutes."

He glanced around the room.

"Except Skull," Checkerface said after spotting the civilian. Skull blinked. "More than likely you'd be, like, an innocent to her or something."

There was a thud.

Checkerface sighed. "If you'll excuse me, I have to see what she broke _now."_

~:~

Naruto tried to set the door handle back on as Checkerface approached, looking exhausted.

"Okay, _Checkerface,"_ she said, setting the doorknob aside. "Tell me the truth."

"A truth you're not quite ready to hear." Naruto bit the inside of her cheek. "I am not using you lightly, little one."

Naruto backed out of his reach.

"You and Kaguya seem to be attached to the line of Asura a bit too much."

Naruto walked into the room, intent on slamming the door.

The door snapped from its place.

Naruto sighed. She needed to tone down her strength even more, apparently.

~:~

 _Eliminate all the Weylyn Famiglia._

Renato turned to look inside a room. Naruto stood in front of two children, who were sleeping soundly, her eyes filled with sentiment.

Renato cocked his gun, but he was disarmed within seconds. Sky Flames flared almost unintentionally around her, tinged with a strange, crackling energy.

An energy that had declared him an enemy. Her Flames seemed to become Wrath Flames, her eyes seeming to be cut out of diamonds.

"You protect those we've been ordered to kill."

"I protect those who have yet to make a choice," she said, her voice freezing. "If you seek to harm innocents, I will end you."

"You're only a temporary insert. When Luce gives birth, she'll take your place." Renato couldn't fight against such power that this woman had, but he could learn until he could do something against her.

"Perhaps. But until Luce does, you can suck it," she told him fiercely.

~:~

They sat around the meeting table, most of them pissed off. Checkerface had berated them, in his quiet way, about not doing as ordered – and then he'd gone silent.

"It was not your place to keep the children alive, Naruto."

"Someone had to," Naruto replied, leaning forward.

"I ordered you to eradicate –"

"You ordered us to eradicate the entire Famiglia. I did what I was ordered. I wasn't, however, ordered to eradicate _innocents."_

"You left a butler alive to protect the children," Lal said, her posture militarily straight.

"I did." She lifted her head. "And he can't describe any of us."

Checkerface slammed his hand on the table, stopping any possible questions.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. I _ordered you –"_

 _"I don't follow_ your _orders!"_ Naruto stood up, sending her chair backwards and upbending it. "I went out with them, _killed_ with them. I am here to complete a damn mission, not to follow your orders to the fucking _letter._ If you order me to do something and I leave _innocent children_ alive, as well as maybe a butler or two – who the hell cares? Nobody could identify them or me. I worked with them. End of story."

She was breathing hard and her Flames seemed to suffocate the room; everyone, it appeared, was having a hard time breathing.

Checkerface only seemed angrier. "You –"

"If you say one more damn word, _uncle,_ I will kick your ass like I did Kaguya's," Naruto snarled, her Wrath Flames curling in preparation for an attack. Her bandaged hand twitched, betraying just how much rage she felt at that particular moment.

Checkerface seemed to blanch at that particular movement.

"Fine," he choked. " _Fine."_

He looked around. "I expect to see you here in two weeks' time. Stay in the country, please, Naruto."

Naruto said nothing, only walking out of the room, her bedroom door slamming.

~:~

He bumped into Skull upon leaving the bathroom, half-naked.

"N-Naruto?" Skull yelped after seeing his chest. "You're actually a guy?!"

There was a pause.

"Sometimes," Naruto responded, inwardly facepalming. "I can change my gender. It's a _me_ thing, not quite a shinobi thing, if that's something you're curious about," he added.

Skull blinked. "Um… Not to be offensive, but how did you change your Flames from Harmony to Wrath?"

Naruto eyed him weirdly. "I still don't know what these 'Flames' are."

Skull's eyes widened, and he laughed. "Yeah, I'm actually new to this thing myself."

"I noticed on our mission," Naruto said with an easy smile, missing Skull's face dropping. "But it's okay to be new to things." He smiled. "Want to trade life stories?"

Skull smiled at her. "Over dinner?" he asked hopefully. He might have known she was only temporary, and even though _she_ was a _he_ currently, Skull wanted to get to know him/her better.

"Sure thing," Naruto beamed. "I can make it if you want?"

Skull knew assassins poisoned people, so it was only fair he asked this next question.

"Are you planning on poisoning me?"

"Nah," Naruto said. "It'd be useless to try. I didn't bring any poisons with me."

Skull blinked at him, not sure whether or not to believe him.

~:~

Luce stepped into the room, stopping when she heard laughter. A small smile graced the mafia boss's face, and she kept walking forward.

"No!" Skull yelped, falling backwards as a pillow flew at him.

The living room was a warzone. Shredded pillows blew feathers everywhere.

Naruto laughed, a smile lighting her face. Luce could feel the airy, Harmonizing factor of her unAwoken Sky Flames.

Beautiful. Luce had made a better choice. Once they discovered the true reason, none of them would be happy with either her or Kawahira.

"You dodged it!"

"You _shattered a vase_ with a _pillow!_ How can you do such a thing?!" Skull looked ready to laugh.

Naruto flexed her muscles, less intimidating in her female form but still impressive.

"I'm stronger than most people. With chakra I could kill someone with a feather," she admitted, her smile never faltering. "Just like my speed – remember when I dodged that projectile? I was only using normal speed."

Skull's eyes bugged out. " _What?"_

Naruto looked uncomfortable and hesitant. Luce stepped in.

"Her physiology is different than ours," Luce said, making Naruto glance over to her and making Skull shriek and jump up. "Isn't that right, Naruto-san?"

Naruto's sharp eyes assessed Luce. "Yes," she responded carefully. "Shinobi are more flexible. We break the boundaries between logic and reality."

"Indeed you do." Luce stepped in and sank down into the ruined couch, sighing as she got off her feet. "My apologies for not being here sooner, Naruto-san. I had hoped to be back sooner. Family business, however, kept me away."

"It's fine," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Tell me more!" Skull said, looking to her entreatingly. "Can you survive being killed?"

"Dead is dead," Naruto said immediately, then she grimaced. "Well. Mostly." Luce looked at her sharply, Skull looking confused.

Naruto sighed.

"We can't bring back the dead, in the sense that you and I can feel each other and, if we so desired, could procreate together," she said. "But not all that long ago, I was in a war." She glanced at her arm. "It was a while. Lasted a month." Naruto closed her eyes. "We were facing enemy shinobi… Who were also our allies."

Skull's mouth dropped open.

Naruto drew her legs up. "Shinobi whose spirits had long passed to the Pure Realm had been forced to work under the command of one named Kabuto. That slimy bastard used this undead army and pit those spirits against old allies; forced those undead to work with old enemies."

Luce frowned.

"And it was all my village's fault," Naruto admitted. "An asshole decided he could bring back the dead, he was fucking wrong, sealed the damn jutsu, and then it was used _again._ Several times. Twice by an asshole named Orochimaru." Naruto closed her eyes, pain flashing across her features.

Luce had the sense from the way her Flames curled inward, seeking to protect herself, that she wasn't yet ready to talk about it.

"Right!" Luce smiled, a bit of a forced smile. "Who wants cake?"

~:~

Naruto heard the door behind her open, but ignored it as she worked out, taking her frustrations out on the punching bag.

Four of them, already split open, lay spilling out sand, and this one wasn't far behind.

"You're quite good at hand-to-hand if you use kunai, Naruto-san."

Naruto stopped, sniffing the air. Spice and moments before a storm. According to Luce, having explained Flames to her and Skull that night over cake, Fon had Storm Flames.

Naruto twisted enough to avoid getting caught by Fon's movement to unbalance her shoulder.

"I am afraid you're wrong in that assumption, Fon-san." Naruto settled into a loose stance. "I'm so far from a master I should have been dead the first mission I went on."

"You can't be that bad," Fon said with a head tilt, assuming a stance as well.

Naruto scoffed. "I'm shit."

Nevertheless, she attacked first.

~:~

"Whoever taught you should have been dead." Fon pressed a bag of ice to his eye. Naruto winced as she caught sight of the bruise that bruised his stomach and back. "But I do admit what you lack in finesse and formal training, you make up for in brute strength."

Naruto bit her lip. "I can heal it."

"You're not a Sun, my dear." Fon gave her a tolerant smile.

"At least humor me," she scowled.

He sighed and moved his bag of ice.

Naruto closed her eyes.

Fon felt a shift in her Flames. Warm, sun-like power emanated from her hands, with a bite of lightning-esque flare. Staring at her hands, a green energy flowed from them, soothing his wounds and bruises. Skull watched, his pasta falling to the plate that the rest was in with an open mouth.

Fon remained silent, impressed beyond what he was currently capable of saying as she turned to his eye.

He could feel both Sun-Flames and Lightning-Flames in her hands, healing him.

He glanced at Luce, whose eyes were wide.

~:~

"You never said she was an All-Encompassing Flame."

"I didn't realize it. Perhaps she can be –"

"You are _not_ condemning just her."

"Then my plan goes forward."

~:~

Lal Mirch shot at the targets, then stopped to reload.

"Lal-san."

Lal whirled, squeezing the trigger – only to gasp as Naruto appeared on the ceiling, a smile on her face as she leaped down. The bullet slammed into the wall.

"What is it?" the COMSUBIN member growled.

"Please teach me how to shoot your gun."

Lal internally shrugged. "Fine. Only if you know you can do it."

Naruto stared at Lal with the look of someone who thought Lal hung the stars.

"I have no idea how to manage a gun!"

Well, Lal _did_ always like teaching.

"Then let this be your first lesson, idiot." Lal pulled out an owner's manual on her current gun, an automatic. "Read that."

Naruto squinted.

"What language – oh, I see."

~:~

Verde scowled as he wrote in his book.

"Do you do human experiments?"

Naruto's inquiry made him look up at her.

"Only on people that I'm supposed to kill." It was the truth – people he was supposed to kill went missing and nobody bothered to look for them. Not _his_ fault.

Naruto nodded, leaning back in her chair. "Verde, I'm going to kill you if you ever start doing experiments on children." It was said in the air of someone commenting on the weather.

The only person that reacted was Skull.

"Would that mean he's a second Orochimaru?"

Naruto snorted, an odd expression twisting her face.

"I don't think anyone could become a second Orochi-fucking-maru." She stabbed her chopsticks down, twirling the pasta on them expertly, and took a bite before continuing. "But, if Verde-san does decide to start experimenting on children out of fun, I will happily – no, _cheerfully and slowly_ – kill him."

"Oh?" Verde smiled, letting his glasses glint. "What if I concocted a poison that would kill anyone with merely the fumes?"

Naruto smiled serenely at him. "I'm immune to nightshade and iocane powder," she said bluntly. "I doubt you could make a poison that doesn't give me a mild case of indigestion."

There was another pause.

"What." Verde stared at her. "No way are you immune."

Naruto blinked at him.

"I am."

Luce coughed delicately. "I have business to take care of after lunch." She cut the conversation off. "Renato should be arriving today."

There were only two more that needed to come. Skull, Lal, Naruto, Fon, and Verde were all there; all they needed was Renato and Viper.

"Great, now I'm going to be shoved around," Skull said, looking annoyed.

"Why?" blinked Naruto.

Skull hummed. "That's right, your arrival caused him to be a bit off balance."

"He likes to beat up Skull. We all do, it's just not interesting to do when Renato's not here." Verde fixed his glasses and continued to write, ignoring Naruto's gaping mouth.

"Come on, Skull." Naruto stood up abruptly.

"Where are we going?" Skull asked eagerly.

"To teach you some defense!"

"Your forms suck. I will help," Fon said, standing as well.

~:~

"I have to go on a mission with Renato, alone." Naruto was worried. If Momoshiki _was_ really in this part of the world, then she had to explain a _lot_ to Renato. An explanation that she didn't want – and if Momoshiki was _helping_ a Famiglia do terrible experiments, then –

Her thoughts of the Estraneo Famiglia paused as she took a deep breath.

Skull placed his hand on her arm, and she tensed.

"I wish I could go," Skull said, "but I'm still technically just a civilian."

His disappointment was clear.

Naruto settled a hand on his shoulder, causing the young stuntsman to look at her.

"How old am I?" she asked him, her eyes sad.

"Twenty-two?" he guessed, by her mature outlook.

"I'm seventeen."

He gaped at her.

"I think it is better for you to be called a civilian rather than having to kill your enemies out of contracts," she divulged. "I never made a kill until after the war with my people. I hate killing." She poked her arm. "Also, can you hold my arm for a moment?"

Skull opened his mouth to ask her _what the hell for,_ when she violently took her bandaged arm _off._

Skull's shriek was heard in the entire house as her arm started to move and _talk._

~:~

Renato watched her as they were taken to the dropoff point.

"You're still a young girl." Her eyes flickered to his. "I heard you talking to Skull."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I'm seventeen. What of it?"

"By the time I was seventeen I'd –"

"-already made a name for yourself in the mafia world as the world's greatest hitman, I know. All of you have something, I have nothing but a title attached to my name," Naruto said, looking weary. "I've had 'jinchuuriki' attached to my name for ages."

"I've never heard that word," Renato admitted. He made a note in his mind.

"Look, I'm only going on this mission because I know the enemy ninja," she told him, letting her hand fall into her lap. "Let's hope he's the only enemy nin there."

"So otherwise I have autonomy."

"If you kill any who haven't been given a choice, I will shred you to pieces," she informed him, examining her nails.

Every one of the 'I Prescelti Sette' were getting sick of her death threats. Except Skull, seeing as they seemed to get on swimmingly.

~:~

Naruto walked into the room first, the house dark. This was just a front for the Estraneo Famiglia; not that Naruto particularly cared. Her senses were on high alert – especially when Renato paused, his eyes narrowing.

"What's wrong?" Naruto breathed out, tightening her grip on her kunai.

"I seem to be caught up in string," he commented.

Naruto closed her eyes, sending chakra to them; opening them, the unearthly red glow of her Kyuubi-eyes spotted the reflection – and the _paper bombs._

"Definitely not Momoshiki," she murmured. "But still – a puppeteer."

She carefully maneuvered herself, twisting her body in cringe-worthy moves to the regular people, flipping herself to where she was standing a little too close to Renato.

"You're going to have to trust me for a second," she told him, then cut the string before he had a chance to say otherwise.

The paperbombs exploded. Naruto shoved Renato down, taking the brunt of the explosion and covering herself with a thin layer of Kurama's chakra, protecting herself from most of the damage. She kept all her limbs away from Renato, because Kurama's chakra already burned people in her country with even the slightest touch – she didn't want him to be hurt by it.

A sinister laugh was heard.

Naruto's eyes snapped up, and she stood in a fluid movement, turning around and staring at the shadow.

"You went missing." She allowed Kurama's chakra to once again show her who it was, and indeed – it was Orochimaru.

He laughed again.

"I have always been here."

Her eyes found the gleam of a chakra string. So… This person had Flames and chakra. Hmm.

"I can see you're like me," Naruto said, speaking to the person behind Orochimaru's unfocused golden eyes. "Chakra and Active Flames, hmm?"

Orochimaru smiled. "So you've been drafted. _Hero."_

That sneer was definitely like Orochimaru.

"I never said I was a hero," Naruto said nervously, licking her lips.

"No," Orochimaru laughed. "No, you didn't. You must _love_ the positive attention you get… _Kyuubi."_

Naruto stilled. "You're from Konoha." She slipped into Japanese unintentionally.

"I was," the maniac puppeteer said in a drifty voice. "Until you and Pein clashed. Then I left. I became the Magician Puppet, the world's greatest puppeteer. I have my own pupil, a few puppets I took from Konoha most recently… Too bad I never got you, trash. I wanted my revenge for you killing my husband!"

Orochimaru's body lunged forward, and Naruto lunged forward too, having no choice but to do so if she didn't want to knock into Renato.

Orochimaru started to hit her. It was rather annoying but not too effective.

Naruto kicked straight up, sending Orochimaru back and making an imprint on the wall.

"So you're either a civilian shinobi or you're just weak," Naruto growled. "I've known one puppeteer and he was so far beyond your caliber – you are _weak_ compared to him."

Goading her opponent was easy – however, Orochimaru flew past her and towards a shocked Renato. Naruto flashed in front of Renato and shoved Renato back, taking the killing blow meant for him.

"Run," Naruto snarled towards him, poofing into nonexistence.

Two of her jumped into the room as Orochimaru once again attacked, Naruto shoving him back with a well-timed _Rasengan._

Renato had vanished.

"Welcome to hell, Uzumaki Naruto." A girl with a doll appeared, smiling. "I am Marionette Doll."

 _What a stupid-ass name,_ Naruto thought as she pushed chakra into her kunai, ninja – some familiar and some not – appearing, jumping down from their shadows.

Naruto erased their names from her mind. Now, they were simply the Enemy, and she was their destroyer.

She jumped forward, intent on killing Marionette Doll.

 _Stupid-ass name, still._

~:~

Renato blinked at the note that was suddenly in his hand.

 _Asshole,_

 _I've been captured. Don't come looking for me, because if it's Momoshiki then I'm dead anyway and there's no reason for you to become a useless corpse. If it's not Momoshiki then I'm a shitty ninja._

 _Naruto_

Renato set the letter down at the table, where the rest of the I Prescelti Sette sat.

"When did she have time to set this up?" asked Fon, curious.

"I guess in between the time we left the car and the time she had to be there to save me," Renato grunted in answer, miffed that she'd saved him. He couldn't do anything about it, but he did have a source of pride.

"You're lucky whoever she's facing didn't follow you," Luce said, her blue eyes hard. That in itself was strange; Luce normally wasn't bothered by things. "Marionette Doll is the name you're looking for. One of Naruto-san's past… _Acquaintances_ that was injured in a battle Naruto-san had with another, far more powerful enemy."

"Something about a pain," Renato said, watching the boss of the Giglio Nero famiglia.

"Sound familiar, Checkerface?" Luce asked, her blue eyes going to the side.

Checkerface stepped out of the shadows.

"Pein," he said, making the single word sound exactly the same as Marionette Doll had put it. "He was a relative of Naruto's who destroyed her village and killed everyone in it."

"How did Marionette Doll survive?" asked Skull, leaning forward.

"Because Pein had the peculiar ability to bring back people from the dead," Checkerface replied. "At the cost of his own life."

Renato eyed Checkerface with narrowed eyes.

This whole situation – the seven, Naruto's appearance, Checkerface's sudden friendliness compared to the emotionless-ness of the being before he'd vanished for a month to come back with the bubbly blonde – stank of _something._ What was Checkerface's plan? Why was Checkerface so _open?_

 _And why did he seem to care about Naruto?_

"Naruto has that same ability," Checkerface went on. "I would advise you not to ask her how she got it when you rescue her."

Lal scoffed. "If she was foolish enough to need rescuing, then she can die there."

Checkerface laughed. It was a cold laugh.

"I cannot be in the I Prescelti Sette."

Luce's calm voice cut through the atmosphere. Renato frowned, gazing at Luce.

"Naruto is formally taking my place. If you do not want to rescue her, that is, of course, entirely up to you." Luce stood. "I suppose, then, I must go make more arrangements."

Viper scoffed. "If this Naruto is so important, why send her on a mission that you obviously knew was going to end this way?"

"Because she thought that we'd go rescue her," Fon said quietly, unheard by any but Renato and, by the twitch, Skull.

Renato looked to the doorway as his friend left.

~:~

Naruto breathed harshly. Three days of this, and she was exhausted.

Seeing as the Enemy were many and she only one she could do nothing. They were far more powerful than she was.

Nevertheless, she'd failed too many people back home.

"I suppose I could tell you who I am now, demon child." Marionette Doll snapped, and a woman in a jounin uniform was seen.

"You're…" Naruto's eyes widened. "From _Konoha?!_ But – you were Gaara's student!"

"Yes, I'm from Konoha," Daichi Matsuri answered with a smile. "And I _was_ Gaara's student."

Matsuri twirled her fingers.

Naruto yelped out loud as senbon flew out of nowhere and struck her.

But just like what had happened with Haku oh-so-many years ago, Naruto could feel Kurama's chakra filling her up, preventing her from collapsing.

She could feel his chakra making the changes; her nails on her natural hand growing. Her eyesight sharpened, her teeth lengthened.

"Monster," crooned Matsuri.

Naruto snarled in answer, running forward faster than Matsuri could track.

Kurama's chakra grew wild. Confused, Naruto stopped.

Matsuri started to laugh. "I have Orochimaru, you idiot!"

 _The senbon!_

Naruto growled ferociously, blackness swallowing her vision.

~:~

There was no feeling of Naruto, Skull found.

He was stupid, coming alone. He'd had to come – after all, Naruto had been the one to help him learn to defend himself from Renato and Verde.

Skull heard a roar, and the house exploded.

Skull gasped and fell backwards into the recently-fallen snow.

There it was, the faint sense of _Sky._ There was a _Storm_ sense, but Skull focused on the Sky.

Marionette Doll was running, her face panicked, but the red thing shot a beam of light, erasing her.

Skull gulped, then froze as the creature turned to him.

Skull swallowed, standing.

"Naruto?" he asked, stepping forward. "Hey, Naruto. It's me, Skull."

He dug deep, deeper in his Cloud Flames than ever, and gathered it in his hand.

He saw his hands light up in purple Flames in the corner of his eyes, but kept his eyes on the creature fixated on him.

"I was wondering something," he went on. "You never told me about this form of yours. Is it a result of you being a jin- jin-" Skull's Flames flared as he shrugged. "Fuck it. Whatever it was?"

Naruto's Sky was returning, and Skull let his Flames go towards it.

Her Sky shied away.

Skull took a deep breath and started walking to meet her.

He faltered for a second when she snarled, but kept walking nonetheless.

"I don't have a Sky," he told her, holding out his hand to the one he badly wanted to be _his_ Sky. "And you don't have a set of Elements. So can I be your first Element?"

He waited.

A clawed hand – her real hand – shot out, but stopped, inches from his.

 _Mine?_ Her Sky Flames danced around his, seeming lost and confused.

Skull had no idea how he responded to her, using his own Flames. _Yours, if you'll have me._ He tried to project his feeling of 'incomplete' to her. How he wanted _her_ and _not_ Luce to be his Sky.

She seemed to get it.

Her Sky Flames connected with his Cloud, and he and her Harmonized.

~:~

"This is Ginger Bread." Naruto smiled at everyone as she nudged the little kid forward.

The orange-haired boy clutched at Naruto's leg.

"He's Matsuri's – Marionette Doll's – pupil. Or was." Naruto ruffled the boy's hair.

"Was?" Renato cocked his gun. "How do we know he's not in league with Marionette Doll?"

"Because I erased her from existence," Naruto said, at full volume and with all the seriousness her cheerful face could muster. The silence was broken by Luce's choked laugh.

"Right," Luce said, with a smile on her face, a smile of knowing something the others didn't, "I have to tell you something while you're here. My Famiglia is hosting an event. Many people want to meet the chosen of the I Prescelti Sette."

"What would be required and how much would it cost?" Viper questioned, the hood shifting briefly.

Naruto turned to Viper, holding out her hand. "I'm Naru –"

"Don't care unless you have money," Viper interrupted.

"Dresses for the women, suits for the men, and a request that nobody kills any of the guests," Luce answered with that always-ready smile.

Naruto tilted her head. "What's a _dress?"_

Everyone turned to her, confused.

And then it was understood.

Fon coughed. "Would a formal Japanese-style be good for Naruto-san, as her profession and country remain a secret?"

Naruto tilted her head. "No, seriously – _what is a dress?"_

Lal produced a magazine of the latest fashions even as Luce agreed to Fon's statement.

"Those are pretty, but rather stupid," Naruto criticized. "How on earth do they protect themselves from men who wish to do untoward things to them?"

"Most people can't," Viper muttered.

Naruto blanched a bit. "That's disgusting."

"You can't honestly say that shinobi haven't taken advantage of powerless civilians," Renato said, causing Naruto's eyes to close.

"No," she agreed. "But those who do are worse than nuke-nin."

"Nuke-nin?" Skull whispered.

"Ninja who have abandoned their home villages." Naruto tapped the band on her arm, moved from her head days ago. "This is the symbol of my home village, Konoha. If it was scored through with chakra, I would be considered a nuke-nin of Konoha."

"You give information too freely," Renato mildly said.

Naruto gave him an innocent smile. "It's not like _you_ can ever see it," she said in the nicest tone possible. "Anyway, nuke-nin are considered the scum of the earth. Aside from, you know, the _Akatsuki."_

The word left her mouth like it was something particularly vile.

"Perhaps we should refrain from visiting the past while we finish up the details of the party," Luce intervened before any more questions could be asked.

~:~

"You noticed?"

"I'm surprised nobody else did."

"I'm surprised that _they_ Harmonized, but given her past and the child I am not at the same time."

"I know. She can still utilize Cloud Flames."

"I think I know what will happen."

"Excuse me? _You're_ not the one with precognition, here."

"Are you denying it?"

"Nope. What you're thinking is more than likely going to happen."

~:~

"Please welcome the _I Prescelti Sette,"_ Luce intoned to the gathering of the closest allies; in fact, none of these famiglias were close to her save the Ottavo Vongola boss, Daniela, who stood next to one of her guardians with a stern look on her face.

Renato was the first to appear, murmurings passing through the crowd as quickly as a bird flew. Skull was next, slouching and in his usual attire, just like Renato.

Luce twitched as Fon exited with Viper, both in normal dress.

 _Does nobody follow orders?_

Lal exited in a tux.

 _Perhaps I should have been more specific._

Verde came in, his tie half on and half off.

"Why do we need to do this?" he muttered loudly.

And finally, Naruto.

The only one to dress _remotely_ formal, with Ginger Bread ( _why the hell did Marionette Doll name the kid Ginger Bread?_ ) following behind her. Luce found herself silently gaping at the woman's obvious beauty.

Her hair had been put in a braid, her kimono sweeping against the floor. Red and gold designed it. Luce found herself looking into a painted face of red and white, and realized that Naruto had put a mask on her face that added to the mystery – who was the one, so clearly a woman – that had a child and yet hid her face behind a mask?

A clever, clever idea.

Nobody would know exactly _who_ the Arcobaleno Sky would be.

Luce smiled a secret smile.

Despite knowing what was in store for the young woman and feeling terrible, Luce knew her granddaughter would find a way to stop the Curse.

And it would be a beautiful thing to see one of Naruto's future Guardians helping.

Luce's passive smile stayed, even as the night seemed to grow colder.

Ah, yes. Bermuda would indeed have a part to play.

~:~

"You _harmonized_ with her?"

Naruto blinked at Skull, who squared his shoulders.

"I did," he admitted.

"Luce was supposed to be our Sky," Viper said coolly. "I didn't take this very long, paying mission only to _not_ be paid."

Naruto sighed. "Would someone tell me _what harmonization means?"_

"That's right, you didn't know a thing about Flames," Fon said, his usual smile intact. "Harmonization is when you form an eternal bond with a Flame that is compatible with your specific Sky Flames."

Naruto blinked at him. "Say what now? I bonded with Skull and now he doesn't have a choice?"

"I knew that going in," huffed Skull, crossing his arms. "I would rather be Naruto's Cloud than Luce's."

There. He said it.

"Good," Luce's voice said, causing the group to start and turn to the boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia, who looked extremely mad. "Now, tell me one thing. _Why were Naruto and Ginger Bread the only ones in proper dress code at the ball?"_

Skull felt a chill down his spine and any and all backbone the Cloud had vanished with Luce's anger. Skull inched behind Naruto.

Unknown to everyone in the room, one of the other Chosen was staring at Naruto with a curious amount of interest.

~:~

Naruto practiced her kunai-throwing. The blades were made with the power of the Kyuubi, so they would never dull. She had the ability her father did, so she could collect them should she lose them.

Repetitive, never losing her mark or wavering.

 _You've been practicing._

Her movements didn't falter.

 _You're awake, teme._

 _Usually am,_ the spirit of Sasuke murmured in her. _I'm always here to talk to you._

 _Makes me feel a lot more lonely._ There was only one reason he was still lurking in the back of her mind, and it was entirely because of the Indra/Asura problem. Skull couldn't exactly make this feeling go away. Sasuke would always be with her, for better or worse. He was an asshole at the best of times.

She stopped throwing the kunai, unnecessarily jumping and collecting her kunai before settling in a meditative pose and summoning a clone, who took on Sasuke's guise.

The man before her smirked at her.

"You usually have to focus a lot harder to bring me out."

Naruto rolled her eyes. "I had no reason to not bring you out."

Sasuke's eyes gentled. "And I thank you for that, precious imouto. Now, tell me everything."

Naruto hesitated, but then she told him, smiling.

Sasuke simply watched her, answering her with his customary 'hn'.

Naruto stood up, just to emphasize something – speaking of the ball and the woman who'd tried to recruit Ginger Bread.

Sasuke chuckled, making Naruto pause, looking down and grinning to herself – and sat back down, finishing her explanation to him.

"I don't blame you," Sasuke said to her as he felt his consciousness going back to her, her clone vanishing like he always did. Sasuke brought his forehead to hers, and she teared up. "Imouto, I'll be there for you, I promise."

"But you're always asleep," she whispered, clutching his hand to her face. "And whenever I need you –"

"-isn't enough, I know," Sasuke answered, agony for her flashing over his face. "Don't worry, Imouto-chan. _I'll be there for you."_

He vanished, and Naruto closed her eyes as his presence settled itself in her mind.

 _Don't worry,_ he whispered. _You still have my powers._

Naruto clutched herself. _But I don't want them,_ she wanted to scream. _I wanted you_ alive.

~:~

Lal stared, her eyes wide and shocked. The girl looked to be on the verge of hyperventilation; Lal did the only thing she thought she could and entered the room.

The Sky jerked, startled, but Lal brought out her Rain Flames.

"You look like you're on the edge of a panic attack," Lal informed her, as gently as she could, letting them wrap around the Sky.

The Sky sniffled. "Thank you," she said, gathering herself – only for tears to start falling.

Lal swallowed and settled next to her. "It's an effect of my Flame type," she said. "In this world, we were all experienced killers by your age. Why do you stop Renato from carrying out his orders to the letter?"

"Because the innocence of the world must be cherished," Naruto said, touching her face and looking at the wetness on them. "That is the belief that the Will of Fire came from. That's what our village was founded on – and now…" Naruto swallowed. "Now, I can't – I won't be able to go back there."

Lal blinked. "Was your village destroyed?"

"No," her Sky gasped. "This was my exile from my home."

The Harmony snapped into place, Lal closing her eyes and placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"If you want, after this group disbands, COMSUBIN could always use another hand," Lal smiled kindly.

~:~

"Another Guardian bond – I thought Fon would be the one to Harmonize with her."

"I don't care."

"…"

"…"

"Don't lie to me."

~:~

Naruto had left for an hour. An HOUR.

" _Skull was kidnapped?"_

Luce nodded, looking annoyed but not harmed. "Luckily the headquarters weren't hit – Skull and Ginger Bread were out getting some food."

 _"Ginger Bread was taken?!"_

Naruto felt fury course through her.

"The Corvino Famiglia has been bold in the past," the Giglio Nero boss said, a dark frown on her face. "But now, capturing Skull and Ginger Bread – I hired Renato to take down their boss, but as they're not like us, they don't have a strict line of succession."

 _Us_ meaning the higher Mafia famiglias – Checkerface had covered that with Naruto.

"I've been in contact with the Donna of the Vongola Famiglia," Luce said, holding her stomach briefly. "But the Ottava can't spare anyone at the moment, she's dealing with an internal matter."

Naruto clenched her fists.

"The Corvino Famiglia isn't something you need to worry about," Naruto said icily, whirling around and stalking off.

Dressed in loud orange, Luce imagined she'd be a walking target.

~:~

Fon felt the Storm move past him, a swirl of Sky Wrath and Storm Rage; Naruto is gone before he registers the blur, the blur that indicated she wasn't quite using chakra to augment her speed but still pretty damn fast compared to most.

Fon jumped after her, following at a respectful distance; Naruto didn't stop him, only stopped and inhaled, standing still for a few long minutes.

Fon waited patiently; he was rewarded when her Storm Flames started to Rage again and she took off, faster than before.

~:~

Skull held Ginger Bread close to him, the child shivering in the cold night. Skull had given the younger his jacket, so he wasn't _freezing,_ per say, but it was still chilly.

Ginger Bread hugged Skull, Sun Flames tickling at his senses, warming him like the sun.

They'd tried to get information about the Giglio Nero, about his Sky, and they'd tried to get Ginger Bread to bond with a Sky of their choosing.

Skull had flared his Cloud, and that undercurrent of Chakra Naruto seemed to send him unconsciously spiked; Ginger Bread had latched onto him.

He felt her, coming ever closer.

There was a Rage in her – if he remembered correctly, she was exhibiting Storm Flame characteristics.

He moved from Ginger Bread's hold.

"She's coming for us," he said, barely able to believe it.

~:~

Naruto stared at the mansion, her eyes clear and angry. These people would have no mercy from her.

 _'The Corvino Famiglia is made up of idiots,'_ Naruto recalled Vongola Ottava saying at the ball, watching a man dressed in black. _'A Famiglia I have chosen to break off all alliance with.'_ Luce had commented on it before moving aside.

Naruto took a deep breath and sat down in a meditative pose.

Fon turned to her, opening his mouth –

-only for his words to die before he spoke as Flames wreathed the woman's body.

"They want an angry Sky." Her words hissed out in the cold night, her eyes snapping open and revealing ruby orbs with an elongated pupil, like a cat's.

"They'll get a Raging Storm," Fon added quietly, their Harmonization brief in the time it takes for the duo to leap up and run for the household.

 _'They keep the women and children in a different mansion. Prisoners, for all intents and purposes.'_

Naruto abandoned herself to her Sky Flames, letting them lead.

~:~

She woke up, her head pounding and face swelled up, in a hospital.

Which, in itself, was surprising. Naruto knew she was healing – which meant that she'd been so beat up that she'd landed herself in the hospital –

-abruptly she realized she was a _he_ and also realized that with everything, his illusion was gone. The scar Sasuke had given him was still there, raised and, underneath the white shirt that had stretched over his chest, quite visible.

Verde was eyeing her.

"I don't like Flames," he told her, matter-of-factly. "They ignore science. I like you, but you ignore science. Every time I get a sample of your blood it destroys itself so I can't replicate the effects Flames _and_ chakra have on your system." He leaned forward. "Is it your chakra that's destroying it?"

Naruto snorted. "No," he answered honestly. "It's my Uzumaki blood mixed with Senju blood." Naruto sat up, wincing a little, and pulled bullshit out of his ass. "See, my clan was an expert clan at making seals – something to do with chakra – so the Uzumaki decided that, since people were stealing blood of clan members, they would prevent theirs from being stolen. They tested a seal on people, it worked, it became a genetic anomaly. They gave that to the Senju when they created my village's Eternal Alliance. Sadly, the Shodai didn't get the seal until _after_ some of his cells were stolen, so some people made some weird shit with his DNA. Anyway, my DNA destroys itself because it's Uzumaki as soon as it comes from my body. I dunno why, exactly."

Naruto smiled at him almost nervously.

Verde eyed him for a long moment.

"I'll find out the truth eventually," he said after a long moment.

He moved away, then paused.

"I would like to Harmonize with you," he said, his eyes glinting, "for science."

"Whatever you want," Naruto agreed.

~:~

Renato scoffed to himself as he watched her with her collective Elements. Viper was hidden in the shadows, having Harmonized with the Sky that seemed to wrap them in a protective embrace while the Sky had been rescuing Skull.

She was at the table, listening with an open smile on her face.

"You should Harmonize with her."

Luce's quiet voice caught his attention.

"Why?" Renato asked, his eyes turning to the Sky boss.

"Because, if you'll notice, she didn't push for Harmonization. It was her Elements that asked for it, begged for it." Luce smiled softly. "She didn't ask, and she gives all she can. Some parts she keeps to herself, but, well." Luce shrugged delicately. "If you Harmonize with her, the future will be much smoother for all of you."

Something dark lurked in her eyes, something she hid from everyone.

Renato eyed her. "And if I asked to be _your_ Sun?"

"I would have to decline the offer." Renato's eyes widened, but Luce only smiled and placed her hand over Renato's. " _She_ is meant to be your Sky."

Renato found no source of lies in Luce's eyes.

"Become her Sun, Renato. It is the only way to ensure the future."

Luce smiled at him before speaking with Ginger Bread, who was asking her to make cookies.

~:~

Naruto blinked at Renato. She hadn't had much of a time to speak with him, and here he was, noticeably uncomfortable about something, but asking her to go on a job.

"Sure. What kind of job?"

"A retrieval one," he said, looking away from her. "A retrieval and hit."

"Who?"

"Hibari Akito. You should fit right in; after all, your culture seems to be steeped in Japanese mythology."

Naruto smiled. "Is it that my country speaks Japanese, or is it that Japan-folk speak my language?"

With that question, Naruto gave him a wink and flounced off.

~:~

"You normals actually wear this?" Naruto messed with the tight, revealing skirt. "I do not like it, -ttebayo."

She froze as her verbal tick popped out with zero prompting. Renato eyed her with amusement.

"I've been learning Japanese," he said. "I have a question for you, though. How did you know Italian?"

Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "I don't." She placed a few pieces of hair in place, then straightened her shirt.

"Ready if you are," she said, walking out into the living room of the safe house, checking to make sure her weapons were all in place.

"Right, well. I'm taking him out, you're going to hold him up in the middle of a public place." Renato gave her a briefcase. "If this plan doesn't work, then you have to take him out."

Naruto nodded, mentally taking a breath and distancing herself.

"Yakuza have their eyes on him, so we have to take him out first. Proof and all that."

Naruto nodded once more, making certain she looked extraordinarily feminine.

"And your hair is supposed to be _black,_ and your eyes brown."

Naruto smirked at Renato and put her hands in a seal. Just like that, she could tell her hair was an unassuming black and her eyes an almost ebony.

"I'm impressed," Renato admitted, looking grudgingly so. "Luce said that the Chinese Triads are protecting Hibari. Don't tell Fon about this, though."

"Why not?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Renato, who shrugged.

"Luce told me to tell you that."

"Of course she did. So when are you two going to Harmonize?"

"We're not," Renato said shortly, checking his guns. "I prefer to remain unattached."

"Mmm." Naruto took a deep breath. "Heading out." She placed her earpiece in and left the place, fitting in with the bustle of Japan with ease.

~:~

Hibari Akito sat in a park, letting his scheduled twenty minutes for free time finish and stood, ready to go to work with his day job.

Before he could, a woman running down the street looking panicked ran into him, making both fall on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" the girl cried in flawless Japanese. "I spilled my coffee! I'm sorry!"

Akito waved her away. "It's only coffee," he smiled at her.

The girl bowed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chanted, producing a handful of napkins and shoving them at his shirt – Akito met her eyes. Filled with cool intelligence and the _knowledge,_ yet still authentically panicked, made him know what was going on.

"I see," he said, letting the napkins drop and producing tonfa. "You're here to kill me!"

The girl sweatdropped. "Eh… What?" She laughed. "No, _I'm_ not here to kill you! Though I _am_ part of the –"

The girl dropped, a shot to the head.

Just like that, yakuza members flooded the area.

"Shit," Akito said. "Feng Mian will kill me." The eighteen-year-old genius got ready. He had to be quick.

He started, whirling on the nearest person – and everyone opened fire.

Akito vanished behind a tree, having taken down three of the yakuza but not near enough to get out of there unscathed.

"That wasn't nice, Renato."

A voice, the voice of the woman who'd been _shot in the head_ , rang out and caused silence.

"You were about to break Omerta, dear. The Vindice get called for shit like that."

 _Great. Mafia. Feng Mian's brother wasn't enough, was it?_

"But he was about to die."

 _"Rules are rules."_

"For the love of – why are the Vindice here when I _didn't_ break Omerta?"

~:~

Naruto kept an eye on the bandaged child-like figure whose eyes seemed to linger on Naruto while being back to back with Renato.

"Ignore him. Unless we really fuck up he won't take us in." Naruto followed his instruction and watched the yakuza warily, who in turned conversed with each other before turning to Naruto and Renato.

"Die!"

They lifted up guns. Naruto scoffed and let a little KI out.

Renato and the bandaged child remained unaffected as Naruto laughed, stepping away from Renato.

"You're making me mad," she smiled, advancing a step – then she vanished, her kunai striking each affected target with ease. Blood stained her relatively new blouse, and the few 'lucky' ones got shot by Renato.

Bodies littered the ground.

 _"How are you going to fix this?"_ the eerie voice of the Vindice leader asked.

Naruto snapped her fingers, her eyes hardening angrily.

The black flame of the Hunter-nin danced in her fingers, leaping to each body she flicked it to after snapping another flame up. Anger or hatred was the way to get a pure Hunter-nin flame; a few hunter-nin had orange flame, meaning peace with themselves and theirs took time. The black flame destroyed every bit of evidence and faded before it hit the ground.

Naruto transformed, putting on a _henge_ of different clothes before burning her bloody clothes.

"I made sure to put this area under illusion. Now where's –"

Mist appeared before her, causing her to black out. Renato shouted something, and Naruto swore there was a moment of sun flickering in her soul before tiny hands grasped her.

~:~

 _"You don't know the rules of Flame-wielders."_

She woke up hearing that kinda awful, echoing, slightly intimidating voice.

"Ugh…" She really hated getting beaten into unconsciousness. "What –" She stared at the boy, his dark eyes staring at her. This was no boy. "Who are you?"

Names always had power.

"Bermuda," the boy said. "I am Bermuda, leader of the Vindice. And you, little akuma, are not truly in the mafia, but in enough to where you should know the rules."

"I know the rules. Don't tell a civilian your identity as a mafia person, I know." Naruto pressed her lips together as she stood up. "I was only going to put the fear of the gods into our target –"

" _Rules are RULES!"_

Black Mist streamed from the boy. Naruto narrowed her eyes.

"Rules are made to be broken."

 _"What if I were to break_ you?"

The boy seemed to switch between angelic voice and terrifying.

"I've been broken before, Bermuda-san," Naruto replied with a smile. "It doesn't scare me."

She gazed at the baby's unseen face.

"Let me leave this place."

" _Find your own way out… If you can,"_ Bermuda laughed coldly, snapping his fingers.

~:~

Colonello was totally ready to shoot at Tsuna, maybe toss him off the cliff.

But black mists consistent of the Vindice appearing indicated someone had broken Omer-

Reborn aimed as someone fell to the ground with a short scream, then popped back up.

Colonello felt rather faint, his gun falling to the ground, his blue eyes wider than ever as he took in the sight of the woman before him.

Leon shifted in Reborn's hand, the hitman ready to kill.

"Wait, _kora!"_ Colonello lunged at Reborn. "You know it's her!"

In his core, Colonello did. And as the woman turned towards them, looking extremely confused, there was no doubt that this woman was definitely _her._

Colonello wracked his memories. Before the Curse, before Luce had taken the Curse in place of her, Lal had written to him about helping with a rescue.

"Where am I?" the girl asked, looking extremely not confused.

"Mafia Land," Dame-Tsuna said, looking confused. "Naruto-san… Why do you look so big?"

Naruto blinked at him again. "Kid, I don't know you. Why is there –" She broke off, going pale as she stared at Reborn. "Re -?"

She was cut off by a shot.

"Reborn," Colonello said, impressing upon the woman Reborn's chosen name. "Isn't she –"

"Obvious questions are obvious, Colonello," Reborn said. "Obviously, the Vindice are to blame for this."

Reborn eyed her, then smirked coldly.

"Die."

He shot her.

She fell backwards, mouth agape, and vanished into blackness.

~:~

She fell through the air, towards the village she knew well. Konoha looked unchanged.

Naruto slammed into the ground, painfully; she was lucky in the regard Bermuda must have put clothes on her while she was unconscious in the prison, though they were ripped to shreds.

She felt ninja approach her downed form and swore.

A hazy image of Bermuda seemed to appear. "Don't worry. I'll be watching for you to break into a thousand pieces." The child cackled.

" _BERMUDA!"_ An unholy rage seized her and she attempted to strangle the image – but she was flattened by wood imprisoning her body.

She shattered the wood and stood up fluidly. She was barely fazed by the strength she'd used.

"Exile, you should not be here." Yamato raised his hand up, as though to restrain her.

"It's not by choice," Naruto said, attempting to ignite in Flames, or use her chakra. She found both of those out of her reach. "If we could resolve this peacefully, I would be most happy."

"I'm afraid not," Yamato said, relaxing minutely. "Akuma-san –"

"Oh, for the love of _Inari,_ I'm not the damned _demon,"_ Naruto snarled at him, hurt. She clenched her eyes shut, gritting her teeth.

 _Let me talk to them._ Sasuke shifted, reaching to take her over.

Naruto let him.

~:~

Sasuke felt her body change to suit him and stared at Yamato with bored apathy. "You really are an idiot, aren't you all?"

Unlike her, Sasuke didn't see a limit on his chakra.

"Sasuke-san," Yamato said.

"No," Sasuke said. "Indra, if you will address me by anything, fool."

"Maa, maa, Sasuke-chan, don't be so superior. Won't make you any friends."

Sasuke turned, and Naruto soundlessly screamed as Kakashi spoke his next words.

"After all, the demon absorbed _you,_ so you can't –"

Sasuke heard Naruto screaming and his eyes changed.

" _You."_ Hatred oozed from that one word. "You were there." Purple flame rose around him, his Susano'o raising around him. "Where's the _bitch?"_

"Married, in Suna."

 _GAARA?!_

"Oh…" Sasuke smirked, then started to laugh. "First his student, then the bitch? Wow, that's _asking_ for me to kill her like I did that Matsuri bitch."

Lies. Sasuke wanted to taint their memory of _him._ Not Naruto. _Him._

" _Sasuke-kun?"_

Sasuke laughed again as the _bitch_ appeared, white-faced.

"Why don't you tell them?" Sasuke leaned forward to her, feeling Tsunade getting closer. "Tell them, _Sakura,_ how you healed _Naruto_ instead of me." He stepped forward, tilting his head. "Tell them, how you knew she'd heal because of her personal little curse, thanks to what _I_ did to her! Tell them how you _healed her and then lied about her killing me!"_

Sakura was white.

"Because little Sakura wanted her fucking _fifteen minutes_ and decided to wreck Naruto's life a _day_ into her Hokage title." Sasuke glared at her. "You've made Naruto run, and run. The least you could do before we die is _tell the truth!"_

"Sakura…" Kakashi's voice gave nothing away. "You said –"

"Don't play innocent, you damn bastard," Sasuke snarled. "You and Sakura both teamed up to make Naruto take the fall. And after all this time, you _dare_ to call her a demon? ALL OF YOU!" He raised his voice. "She dealt with so much shit because of you! She somehow persists to call this place _home_ because she believed you would never do that!"

Sasuke fell to the ground, clutching his head. _Not much time…_

Naruto took over, ready to take any punishment.

~:~

Tsunade heard those words, then acted like she'd just arrived.

"What's going on?"

Her sharp voice stopped Sakura from punching the surrendering girl in the crater into smithereens.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade stormed into the circle of ninja and saw a puddle of wet dirt, slowly getting wetter, under Naruto's face.

"The traitor came back, and –"

"Arrest Hatake and Haruno."

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura and Kakashi were suddenly in the arms of experienced hunter-nin, whose blank masks unnerved even the veteran ANBU.

"Naruto." Tsunade took her pseudo-grandchild's face and gently brought it to look her in the eyes. "I pardon you."

More tears filled the eyes of the girl who was far from okay, and she hugged Tsunade.

Tsunade picked her up, the weight nothing with her Strength of a Hundred, and walked away.

~:~

Two months dawned.

Naruto had long since resigned herself to staying; Bermuda's Mist had stopped her from leaving the village in the dead of night, or in the daytime, when she'd tried to hug Konohamaru on one of his first missions out. Konohamaru had been forced to step over the boundary and hug her.

Naruto slid on a black kimono, a hat, and walked to the market.

~:~

"…it's almost time, and they're _nowhere_ where they're supposed to be."

"Checkerface, we may be related, but you are a goddamn idiot. Renato is her Sun."

"…FUCKING HELL, I AM GENUINELY GOING TO _KILL_ THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS."

~:~

Renato strode purposely through the gates of the unfamiliar bullets, guns already tracking idiots who could perceive them through Viper's Mist.

"Ready, idiot student?"

"Always ready for you, Lal!"

Renato ignored the two Rain and infused his eyes with Sun Flames, allowing him to see everything faster.

Sadly, Verde had calculated that if Naruto could handle poison, most of these 'ninja' were probably similar to her in that regard.

So, he'd calculated the amount of tranquilizer that would keep a normal person down and doubled it.

Lal shot, and Renato gave up any hope of remaining unseen.

They made it to the market before they were completely surrounded.

Renato remained relaxed. Colonello and Lal kept their weapons trained.

"I AM GINGER BREAD, THE MAGICIAN'S DOLL!"

Ginger Bread rose up –

"SKULL, I TOLD YOU TO STAY _BEHIND AND WATCH THAT FOOL!"_ Lal's temper spiked.

"Minna?"

The ninja in front of Renato parted, and they were presented with Naruto, who looked a little odd in a black kimono.

Her expression crumpled, and she ran at Renato.

"You're here!" she bawled upon hugging Renato.

"Baka," Renato scoffed. "You didn't actually break Omerta." He eyed everyone around her. "Lal said you couldn't return home. That Vindice bastard told us you'd returned home."

" _Naruto!"_

A woman appeared, looking pissed.

"Tsunade!" Naruto threw an apologetic glance at Renato before assuming a subordinate's position, kneeling as the rest of the ninja did before the woman with big boobs.

"Who are they?" Tsunade demanded. Renato followed this strain with help from one of Verde's latest invention, the translator that translated known languages into Italian.

Naruto looked over to them and smiled.

"My Family."

Renato grinned.

Tsunade pinched her nose. "You're not staying." There was no question to her words.

Naruto stood.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized softly. "But… I don't know – they might not accept me for who I am, or what I contain. But I know that whatever they do to me will be far less painful than what happened here."

Tsunade nodded. "I see." Tsunade snapped her fingers. "SHIZUNE!" the woman bellowed, a nervous-looking woman with a _pig_ on her shoulder appeared. "You have the release forms?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade turned to Naruto with a scroll.

"First, your belongings and your house." She smiled sadly at Naruto. "And lastly, release papers."

They looked signed and documented.

"Hokage-sama," Tsunade said, bowing her head and taking out a hat with an orange kanji on it, "Goodbye."

Naruto left with them, taking one last glance behind her at the mountain with her face on it.

~:~

Their final mission went haywire.

Naruto was on a mountaintop with her assembled Family, and Checkerface was there with boxes.

Upon opening them, a bright light shone out of them, shooting to each of them and assaulting them with agony.

Naruto blacked out.

Upon waking, Checkerface had given her a sorrowful glance.

"You share the Curse of the Arcobaleno with Luce," he said, looking sad. "The other chosen are gone."

Naruto thought he meant _dead,_ and didn't check her damn bonds.

Dumbass.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where are they?"

"Gone."

~:~

"She's going to be furious when she finds out we tricked her."

Checkerface glanced at Luce.

"I know. But it is for the best." He eyed the girl, who currently sat on the grass, looking sad. "I blocked the bond they have with each other the moment the pacifiers were given out."

Luce dropped a cup. Dark fury was in the usually gentle mafia boss's face.

"How could you?" Luce demanded angrily. "A Guardian Bond is delicate! You could-"

"She can Harmonize with other Skies," Checkerface interrupted. "I'm rather interested in who she might choose."

"Multiple?"

"She has all of the Elements. Therefore, three, considering she added another Mist to her Guardians, adding in that Sun child - so three, at the least, if she manages a Guardian Bond with him, and then her Guardian set will be complete." Checkerface was in deep thought. "She won't have a traditional outlook, and neither will get Guardians-she feels like she is the one who has to protect, rather the one being protected."

Luce hummed in thoughtfulness.

"It still isn't right," she said after a moment of silence. "It is a sacred bond and she is still new to Flames."

The former ninja turned Arcobaleno stayed in that position for a long time.

"Well, the good news is, she can still use her chakra."

Luce glared at Checkerface.

"Checkerface, you are a shitty celestial being."

~:~

Naruto lifted her tiny body, focusing on her chakra.

"You can still use your chakra," Checkerface had told her. "But you can't use your Flames that often or the Curse will backfire and suck you dry."

There was a pause.

"Wow, whoever designed this curse really wanted a generation of each type of Flame user dead, huh?" Naruto glared at Checkerface in a _are you fucking kidding me_ kind of way.

"Not that I wanted them _dead,_ per say… Plus, little Sky, you can't _exactly_ die, can you?"

Naruto glared at him even more.

"I hate you."

~:~

Naruto enjoyed the breeze on her babyish face.

Her voice was high and Luce kept cooing at her during dinner, which was irritating enough, but Naruto wouldn't have to deal with it for much longer.

"I have decided," she said, "to travel."

Her announcement didn't seem to affect the mafia boss.

"Where?" Luce wondered.

"Well, first I decided to go see America."

Luce choked on her ravioli.

"Why that... uncivilized country?" Luce grimaced. Apparently any country _not_ Italy was 'uncivilized'.

Naruto blinked at her.

"Because I've wanted to go to America for ages. Then England... then I don't know." Naruto shrugged.

Naruto was going to take this fresh start and run with it.

~:~

America was a… Place.

Yeah. A place.

Neither good, nor bad. Naruto had had to forge documents on the ship with the help of one of Luce's bodyguards who apparently knew about the Curse and pretended to be her dad. Why Americans had them go on a ship was beyond Naruto.

He didn't know English, which meant Naruto had to translate _everything_ the American said, present their passes, _and_ keep the fact that her 'dad' was carrying weapons that were more than likely illegal. Apparently Luce wanted the man to keep an eye on Naruto but not interfere.

Oh, and she had to hide her familiar, Kia, because apparently Japanese foxes weren't allowed onboard the ship.

Naruto just missed Aria, Luce's newborn daughter; Aria was a Sky, too.

Naruto sighed as the car drove them to their current living space, the American looking up as Naruto began to speak in Italian. The automatic translation ability Naruto had thanks to several demons in her head was giving the seventeen-year-old baby a headache.

"I miss Luce! Little Aria was so cute," she said, hitting the back of her seat with her head.

"Boss told me to follow you until I die," Claudio said staunchly. "And to murder those who –"

" _No murdering,"_ Naruto growled, interrupting her darling 'dad'. "I'm here to see what this country has to offer, not to murder people. That would just create a mess of things."

"Oh." Claudio actually looked disappointed. "Remember we can't talk about the mafia here. Omerta and all that."

"Tch, like I could forget, being Cursed as I am," the baby snapped back.

The American driver looked at Claudio. "Your daughter is a genius, being able to talk so young!"

"Don't talk to us," Naruto snapped, causing the driver to swerve and swear.

Naruto happily collected those swears and added them to her language collection.

~:~

"Arcobaleno, hmm?" An ocean away, a purple-haired child with an octopus for a familiar looked up from his drink, scowling. The stuntman had red-ringed eyes, indicating the child had been crying.

"Leave him alone," Ginger Bread said, manipulating his Sun Flames so that a copy of himself appeared that Ginger Bread could manipulate.

The mafioso simply raised his hands. "Look, I'm from the Carcassa Famiglia. Heard that some Arcobaleno appeared, figured I'd approach one of 'em. Where's your Sky?"

Skull scowled at the mafioso. "Not interested."

The Carcassa Famiglia were into dark shit, according to Luce.

"We have a contract with Vongola," Ginger Bread added darkly, producing the crest. How the child managed to get a contract with the _Vongola_ was beyond Skull, but Skull didn't question it.

"Hey, just because you're part of the I Prescelti Sette, you think you're hot shit. Well, you're no better than the rest of us!" The Carcassa member declared, lunging at Skull –

-only for his hand to stop as a woman Skull knew by one ball shoved his face into the table.

"I wouldn't touch _my_ Arcobaleno," Vongola Ottava said silkily, her red facial tattoos glinting in the half-light. "Also, if you think being part of the I Prescelti Sette isn't an accomplishment, you might need to learn your Italian again."

She released the Carcassa member, then stepped near Skull and Ginger Bread, who took a defensive stance next to the ex-civilian.

"I was actually coming to offer you a safe haven," she said, a twinkle in the older Sky's eyes, "as my temporary Cloud Guardian." She held up her hand to forestall his next words. "I know you have a Sky, but I have not heard anything that says your Sky is alive. I do not ask you Harmonize with me, simply take my former Cloud's spot for the time being."

"As long as Ginger Bread is taken in," Skull agreed sullenly. "My Sky would kill me if I let Ginger Bread loose."

Ginger Bread gave him a pout. Skull ignored it.

~:~

"Why did you try to take my place, idiot student?" Lal scowled at Colonello with no real heat, just sadness and inner rage boiling inside.

"Because I think you don't deserve to be cursed," Colonello smiled. "And, well, I didn't even _know_ we were going to be cursed –"

"Or half-cursed," Lal grumbled under her breath.

"Or half-cursed," Colonello agreed. "Anyway, I didn't know, and even if I had, I would have done it."

Lal sighed. "Well, I guess there's no point in being mad."

Colonello's bright smile turned distant. "Do you think she's really dead?"

Lal frowned. "Of course, why would –" _Why would Checkerface and Luce lie?_

But Luce hadn't told them about the Arcobaleno curse, hadn't told them that they were next to be cursed. Careful praises, mentions of how great they were, had engorged their ego and made them all think that they were being _forced_ to work together simply because they were the greatest in their respective areas.

And they all had just _happened_ to be different Flame types.

Introducing Naruto, who was primarily a Sky, was strange; but the ninja was apparently the best in her land, and that in itself was an extraordinary feat.

Lal shook her head. "No," she said firmly, her other thoughts disappearing in the air. "I don't think she's dead. I don't think the Curse could kill her – remember when she told us she couldn't exactly _stay_ dead, kind of like Skull?"

She conveniently forgot that Colonello _hadn't_ been there.

"No," Colonello deadpanned. "I don't."

"Right, well, she can't stay dead. Something to do with a curse of her own on her." Lal shrugged. "Don't know. Anyway, if she was being honest, which – let's be honest, she usually was – she wouldn't have stayed dead even _if_ the curse really _had_ killed her. So, Checkerface must've lied, and muffled our bonds with her."

Which also meant Luce was in on it.

"We can't go to Luce," Colonello said, as if reading her mind. "Luce wouldn't tell us."

"Luce must be in regular contact with Naruto," Lal continued in that vein, "so she'd send anyone and everyone on a mission if we happened to be there, or ask Naruto to stay away in a way that doesn't seem like _stay the hell away so I can keep a secret from you."_

"And, if we know my Sky, she'll trust Luce."

" _Your_ Sky?" Lal scoffed, folding her tiny arms under her chest. "Naruto is _my_ Sky. We Harmonized!"

"Uh, no offense, Lal, but I kinda Harmonized with her after we rescued her." Colonello looked sheepish. "We Harmonized when she Harmonized with Reborn."

Lal furrowed her brows, and then a sort of understanding came over her. "A Sky with all Elements, bonding with two Elements of the same type…" Lal's eyes widened. "Naruto can Harmonize with _two_ Elements of the same type! Must be because of her chakra."

"Chakra?"

Lal blinked again. "Right. You know what, let's go get a drink and I'll bring you up to speed, Colonello."

~:~

Reborn smirked to himself as he took the degree in mathematics. Well, at least he was utilizing the eternity he had until he died. His body may have been small, but he wasn't going to waste the new time he had on his hands dwelling on Luce's failed future she'd envisioned for the Elements of Naruto.

His smirk faltered for a second, then he forced it back on his face.

 _Do not think of her._

He had his own set of rules, and he was going to keep them.

Even if he had to force himself to forget.

~:~

Verde felt curious. Feelings that weren't new to him – loss, devastation – that he'd only seen in normal humans, the ones who weren't Verde and Viper.

So why he felt them right then was a curious question he was currently asking his new experiment, who just stared at him.

"You know, it means you're human," his experiment said flatly. "Human and experiencing loss."

"But I'm not a _normal_ human, unlike _you,"_ Verde said reasonably, fiddling with dials.

"Fuck you, asshole. You look human and I'm pretty sure you can bleed, so you're human. Ish. Even the worst of scum can feel things."

Verde hummed to himself. "Thank you for your input."

~:~

Viper sat on a roof, contemplating things.

They remembered the dress incident with Naruto and thinking how stupid the girl must be.

Then, they'd run into Naruto after rescuing her from her home, drunk on poison.

 _Viper walked past Verde's lab, only to stop and silently look in._

 _Naruto was sitting in there, in one of Verde's chairs, holding a bottle that had 'nightshade poison' written on it._

 _Viper panicked, opening the door as Naruto literally took a swig of the stuff and stopped, freezing as Naruto looked at her, a healthy dusting of pink across his cheeks._

" _You know, I wasn't always impervious to poison," he slurred, letting his head fall back again. "'t only happened when I was in the hosp'tal."_

" _Hospital?" From what Viper saw, her wounds healed extra fast. Why would she –_

" _Yeah, cuz when my birthday came 'round everyone liked to beat me up. Like, everyone in the whole village," the teen laughed. "So Gramps thought takin' me to the hosp'tal was a good idea."_

 _He took another drink of the liquidated poison._

" _The nurses din't like me all that much," the teenage boy confided, whispering like Viper wasn't the only person in there, his words becoming less pronounced. "So they tried to kill me with poison. Firs' few times, really got sick, but they kept giving me poison." Naruto shrugged, Viper feeling sick as Naruto continued. "Grew impervious, they tried to kill me with more."_

 _He took quite a few gulps, nearly draining the nightshade. His face went a little redder._

" _I totally understand," Naruto nodded sagely. "They were scared."_

 _Viper hesitated, then put her hand on Naruto's shoulder awkwardly._

" _But_ I _didn't kill my dad and mom a few hours after I was born," the teen insisted, his words becoming a little clearer as he moved to sit up. "I was just born. How was – was I s'posed to –"_

 _He hiccupped._

" _Maybe that's enough alco- er, poison, for you," Viper suggested, moving the bottle out of his grip._

" _I can't get drunk on alcohol," Naruto mused. Then he looked at Viper, drunk but serious. "Sometimes I wanna die, Viper. 'Cuz then I don't think anyone would care, you know?"_

 _Viper's eyes widened._

" _You're not allowed to die," Viper said, their tone dark. "Because then we'd all be sad."_

 _Well, maybe not Renato, but he was a jackass. Verde, maybe. Fon? Probably._

 _Naruto looked at them with wide eyes._

" _I wouldn't want anyone to miss me," Naruto said. "'Cuz if someone told me they would then I would do my best to keep them safe."_

" _You're drunk out of your mind," Viper said suddenly, standing up. "And Verde – if he finds out you drank most of his nightshade stash, he's going to try to kill you."_

 _Viper herded Naruto out, stumbling and drunk._

 _The next day everyone was woken up by Verde's loud complaints about his missing nightshade. Naruto 'fessed up to drinking it and Verde railed at her before asking about the effects, ever the scientist._

 _Viper never once mentioned the conversation. Neither did Naruto._

Viper honestly didn't know if Naruto hadn't remembered, or if she just wanted to avoid any awkward conversations.

The Mist sighed.

~:~

Fon stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell.

The small assassin waited for a long moment, then used his normal voice. "Feng Mian, please don't be afraid. It's only me."

The door opened, and a beautiful teen who could have been Adult-Fon's twin appeared, her red eyes latching onto Fon uncertainly.

"I am an Arcobaleno," he said clearly, disregarding any eyes and ears. "Might I come in?"

Feng Mian moved aside.

Funnily enough, Feng Mian _was_ Fon's twin. Older by five minutes.

"Why have you come?" Feng Mian asked, her eyes sharp and guarded. "Your Arcobaleno allies tried to kill my fiancé."

"My Sky is missing."

Straightforward, no hesitation. Fon didn't believe Naruto was dead. Not for a second.

~:~

Naruto had managed to use her chakra to make herself a believable age. There was no way anyone would assume that she was younger, baby-age.

She found her limit to her shapeshifting ability to be her previous age, seventeen, and even that took a considerable effort to maintain.

Exhausted, she let the illusion drop.

"We need a cover," Claudio told her in Italian. "A job to do."

"No murdering," Naruto sharply told him, glaring at him from her pose. "I don't care what you do as long as it's nothing terrible."

"Okay," Claudio said, leaving her to her training.

~:~

Naruto opened the bedroom door three months after she'd kept up training to demand something of Claudio, only to see the mafioso talking on the phone in accented American while a trussed-up American lay on the ground.

Claudio slammed the phone down and froze.

The girl whimpered as she stared at Naruto, KI leaking from the tiny 'baby'.

"Claudio," she said in perfect American, " _I said nothing terrible!"_

"I am a mafioso of the highest –"

"You are Luce's _bodyguard!"_ Naruto _shrieked,_ her chakra rising. "You aren't a _mafioso_ any more than _I_ am, you're just one of the more important boss' _bodyguard!"_

"I am her Rain Guard-"

" _You idiot!"_ Naruto screeched, seeing the black mist start to form. "You just broke _OMERTA!"_

The American girl scrambled towards Naruto as the Vindice formed, wrapping chains around the idiot.

"Oh, and you're not Luce's Rain," Naruto added as an afterthought. "You'd be a lightning, not rain. Oi, Vindice!"

The bandaged, faceless mafia police turned towards her.

"If you can, tell Bermuda that I know what he is now!" Naruto beamed at them. "And that I'm gonna break this Curse if it's the last thing I do one of these days, ya know!"

The mafia police vanished with a screaming Claudio.

Naruto returned her attention to the pale American, who stared at her with huge green eyes.

"Okay, I have no clue what to do with you." Naruto tapped her chin. "I know! If I let you go, will you be my new bodyguard?"

The American girl hesitated.

Naruto held up her hands.

"I'm Cursed to look like a baby, not _actually_ a baby, so… Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

~:~

" _I have to confess something." Naruto swallowed. Luce kept sipping on her tea. Luce drank a_ lot _of tea. Naruto closed her eyes. "I… I have a set of giant chakra demons in my head, thanks to the spirit of my soul-brother." He switched genders and folded his hands together, keeping his eyes closed and praying that his hands weren't as shaky as they felt. "It's why I can't die. It's why nobody can take my DNA."_

 _There was silence, other than Luce sipping her tea._

" _Really?" Renato was the first to break the silence. "So that's why you got up when I shot you for almost breaking omerta."_

"YOU _SHOT ME?!" Naruto threw him an offended look. "And here I had been hoping we'd been getting to be friends!"_

" _Then, hardly," Renato scoffed. "At the most, allies."_

 _Naruto scoffed. "Jeez, is that all you're going to say? I just told_ everyone _I have a set of giant chakra demons in my –"_

 _Blackness swamped his vision as a weapon jammed itself in her head._

 _She opened her eyes to be looking at the ceiling; something was straight through her head. And there was lots of arguing._

" _YOU JUST KILLED OUR SKY!" Skull shouted._

" _Relax, she'll be up in a second," Renato lazily said._

 _Naruto dragged herself up, her eyes narrowing and eyeing Verde._

 _Only Luce seemed to see her as Skull and Renato argued fiercely._

" _Verde."_

 _Her single, icy word caused yelps of shock and disgust to cross their faces, not at the fact that she was still alive but at the pole in her head._

" _Yes?" Verde asked, looking mildly annoyed._

"… _I didn't want you to kill me," Naruto said, grasping the pole and sliding it out, feeling her head heal. "In fact…" Killing Intent, low-key and completely fake, was aimed at Verde. "You're dead now!"_

 _Fon hit her, surprising her enough that she stumbled and tripped over the table, causing it to crash._

" _Oh, fuck," Naruto said, her voice muffled by the pile of rubble._

 _(Luce seemed to have enough foresight as to take her tea and cup off the table.)_

 _Skull coughed. "Are you alright?"_

 _Naruto dragged herself up._

" _Just… Rotten luck randomly decides to pick on me at the worst moments," Naruto replied._

" _Really?" Lal seemed mildly interested. "How does that affect your performance with a weapon?"_

 _Naruto blinked, then went a scalding red. "Um – it does- doesn't," the girl whimpered, hiding her scarlet face._

" _Yes it does," Fon blandly commented._

 _Naruto groaned into her hands. "I'm not going to tell you guys. Too embarrassing."_

" _Can't be_ that _embarrassing," Skull muttered, looking eager._

 _Naruto groaned. "It is the single most humiliating experience of my life, -ttebayo! I am not going to say a word!"_

 _To their disappointment, they couldn't get a word out of her._

~:~

Skull scratched his ear, annoyed. This idiot just didn't. Stop. _Talking._

"Timoteo, if you don't shut up, Donna won't be pleased," Skull snapped, shutting the heir up.

"You're such a –" Ganaunche brought up his gun, only for Daniela to enter.

The woman was getting older, as evidenced by her large amount of gray hairs.

"Timoteo, you've been Skull's ally for five years, don't piss him off."

Daniela glared shrewdly at the fool; Timoteo flushed and ducked his head.

Skull 'tch'ed' and sighed.

"Please tell me you have a job for me to do," he begged Daniela.

Daniela scoffed. "I want another Arcobaleno to come here before I die. One that's headed to London, so I hear."

Skull knitted his eyebrows together. "Do you want Ginger Bread to come with me? He can pass for my dad. I'd rather not have mini-asshole join me."

Ginger Bread looked up from his cookies.

"I can go!" he offered happily.

"Good," Daniela said. "And besides, it wasn't really _me_ who asked me to bring her here." Daniela hesitated.

Skull deflated. "Great, so now I have to get Lal Mirch here? Or Mammon?" He had no idea if Mammon was even a girl or not.

"I don't know, brat," Daniela scowled.

Skull sighed and got up.

~:~

Naruto sipped her tea, blissfully ignoring any person who attempted to make a pass at her, calling her a _bit young to be in a bar, aren't you? Need help finding your mother?_

She looked ten, maybe eleven. Still not good.

The door opened, and a tiny baby figure entered.

"I am the Great Skull!" the purple figure cried out. "I am searching for an Arcobaleno!"

He said it all in Italian.

Naruto lost control and poofed into her baby form, her teacup smashing and making everyone look to her.

She was gone, having launched herself into the air and collided with the other, hugging the breath out of him and seeking comfort from his Flames.

"She told me you _died,"_ the Sky sobbed.

Her Cloud's Flames _reeled_ from her for a long moment, running before choking them.

Naruto let him, knowing as a shinobi that if someone claimed to be someone that shouldn't be there right _then,_ you should always cut off their power.

But soon enough the Flames settled, and Skull was hugging her back.

"I thought _you_ were dead," he admitted hoarsely.

~:~

 _Skull's scream echoed throughout the house as the creature that hid her repairing arm moved._

" _Oh, shut up, you stupid ningen," the creature snarled before turning to Naruto. "What's up, kawaii-hime?"_

" _Just wondering how long it's going to be until my arm grows back," Naruto replied blandly, eyeing the start of her elbow._

" _It would go faster if you allowed_ their _chakra to course through you," the white thing said._

" _Um… Naruto, what exactly is that thing?" Skull eyed it like it might bite._

" _Oh, nothing, just a sentient tree made from the First Hokage's cells. Mutation from his cells, the tree, and Madara," Naruto said blandly. She blinked at her stump. "And I thought the sun mark would vanish."_

" _It'll go onto the palm of your hand, just like the moon mark on your other one," the white thing said cheerfully._

 _Skull blinked, glancing towards her gloved left hand._

" _Is that why you don't take your glove off?"_

" _Mostly," Naruto said, her eyes hooded. It was hard to believe she was seventeen, with how old she looked in her eyes just then._

 _The white thing wraps itself around her midsection._

 _Naruto shrieked and shoved it off._

 _(Skull learned an important lesson. Never touch her stomach. She looked afraid and in pain and angry all at the same time, all of it leaching into terror. It reminded the elder that this girl was just that – a girl – who'd been living as an assassin for most of her life.)_

~:~

She didn't quite stop crying, instead taking to hiccupping and sobbing at the same time. The darling child-like teen had lived for five years thinking her Guardians were gone.

Skull felt like crying too, but he pretended to have gotten it all out within the first ten minutes of the whole sob-fest. They were on a plane and people were staring at them weirdly, but oh well. Skull could feel Naruto fall asleep on him.

When they got off the plane, Luce was there with Aria.

It was clear to both Naruto and Skull that Luce was going to die soon, despite her young age, and Aria was going to become the youngest Giglio Nero boss.

Once ensconced in Luce's mansion, in their old chairs, Luce spoke.

"Checkerface thought that keeping you apart was ideal," she said to them, folding her hands together. "With the amount of people you are bonded to, Naruto, he's paranoid that you'll upset the balance."

The words come out carefully, as though Luce was testing them, thinking before she spoke. It was much different from before, where it was quiet laughter and watching – not talking, not for Luce.

"In some ways, it was good for us to mature," Naruto said. "I think relying too much on Guardians makes the Sky weaker, because if a Guardian falls then the Sky is definitely weaker."

Her words were soft and uncertain.

Luce hummed to herself.

"You're right," Luce admitted. "It was also… It was also in hopes that you would truly see what a Sky would, without your bonds. And you have. You glimpsed it, didn't you?"

Luce looked right at Naruto, who looked confused.

"You glimpsed your future," Luce finally said.

Naruto went rigid.

"I can see many things connected to myself," Naruto told her quietly, guarded. "In neither one do I let a few of my fellow Arcobaleno know that I'm alive until after Mafia Land."

Skull and Luce stared at her.

"Hmm," Luce hummed. "I have no idea what _Mafia Land_ is."

Skull did. It was a plan by the Vongola and backed by the Cavallone.

 _But it hadn't happened yet._

"Luce, you don't get… Specific visions, do you?"

Luce shook her head. "No. My visions are interpreted from vague colors, usually."

Naruto looked irritated. "Believe me, I _wish_ my visions were less _me-specific._ I heard Mafia Land when I was choking down cupcakes in America two years ago and my brain connected it with the place Renato shot me at."

"Reborn," Skull said, wincing as he reflexively twitched away from Reborn's seat. "He goes by Reborn now."

"Does he still have those ridiculous sideburns?"

Naruto's odd twitch of her lips indicated she thought it was funny.

"Yes." Skull grimaced. "Why does everyone _but_ you and I think it's _cute?"_

He recalled what Reborn looked like when they'd last seen each other. Childish, yet still lethal, and _still_ with those damn sideburns. Half the mafia women were _giggling_ over the sideburns!

"I know – knew – two people with bowl-cuts and these gigantic, bushy, _bushy,_ eyebrows," Naruto grimaced. "I remained scarred for _life_ after I saw their Sunset Genjutsu of Youth." She shuddered, turning into a boy.

"Maybe you should go to your village," Luce said, making them blink and return to the present. "Actually say goodbye to those you left behind."

Naruto hummed. "Eh, couldn't hurt. But why exactly did you call us here, Luce?"

Luce hesitated.

"I don't want you at my funeral," she blurted. "Feeling a Sky's death hurts."

And then – Skull puts together a piece of the puzzle, connecting something entirely different. His eyes widened, and he breathed the truth out.

"You _knew_ about the Arcobaleno curse – you _knew_ we were going to be saddled with it!"

Naruto tensed.

Luce sighed and hung her head. "Yeah, I knew," she said bitterly. "He thought about – after learning of your compatibility with all of the Sky Elements, Naruto, to give _you_ the full burden."

"He should have," Naruto said, looking down and sad. "I have curses on me already, not like one more would make a difference."

She moved away, out of that room.

"I'm not coming back to this house," Skull said, "while you're alive."

His words were cold and he left, uncaring that Luce broke into tears.

~:~

Ginger Bread opened the door to the car, staring as _Naruto_ got out.

"Naruto!" The taller teen hugged the tiny woman, who laughed in happiness.

Skull sighed and jumped out. "We do have a schedule to keep," he reminded Ginger Bread, who nodded and picked both Naruto and Skull up, setting Skull on his left shoulder and Naruto on his right.

"What are we doing?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Getting leave from Ottava," Skull said. "I think I need a break."

~:~

Daniela scoffed at Gabriele's words. "I don't particularly care about that. Fix the problem, Cavallone, or we'll have an issue on our hands."

A knock ceased their meeting as a sullen-faced Timoteo poked his head in.

"Ginger Bread is back with the brats, who are asking to see you."

Daniela flicked her hand. "Fine, show them in."

The door shut again.

"When will you give him the Trials?" Gabriele rumbled.

"As soon as I want," she snarked at the younger man. The Ninth Cavallone boss flushed as the door opened again, Ginger Bread entering with Skull and an unfamiliar Arcobaleno.

The intense, unfamiliar energy of the new Arcobaleno caused both to tense, but the child seemed unaware she was leaking such energy as the child beamed at Daniela.

"Ottava! You're looking… Old," the Sky Arcobaleno said bluntly.

Daniela glanced at Skull, who only smiled at her before jumping off of Ginger Bread. His tiny octopus partner jumps from Daniela's desk (Gabriele Cavallone shrieks in the most girly way) to Skull, who barely twitched as he landed on Daniela's desk, inches away from where his octopus partner once was.

"I'm taking a well-earned vacation. Naruto's coming with me."

Daniela glanced at Naruto. "After you come back, wanna work with the Vongola?"

"Ahh, maybe," Naruto smiled. "My work would be conditional, and if Skull and Ginger Bread stay then they're automatically allowed in."

There was that foreign power again, and Daniela's eyes widened as it seemed to balance out with Sky Flames. The orange pacifier around her neck glowed for a second.

"Alright, here you go."

Daniela handed the blue-eyed Sky the paper she'd handed Skull upon his entrance; a conditional acceptance into the Vongola. Timoteo couldn't burn it, only Daniela and Naruto could, as only Daniela and Skull could destroy Skull's contract with the Vongola.

The tiny Sky read and signed it.

"I'm asking for leave as well," Naruto said with a smile. "While I have… Adjusted, to my situation, I must go to my home to receive training."

Her eyes dimmed before lighting up again as Daniela waved her hand away.

"Go ahead."

Ginger Bread clapped his hands delightedly. "I get to see auntie's home again!"

~:~

There was little that could be done under the new reign of the Nanadaime, Sarutobi Konohamaru, that had to do with _war._ No, in fact, most of the ninja were sent on rumors now.

One particular group was rather bored. This group was far more dangerous than the ANBU, and had a collection of the village's most dangerous individuals more suited to tracking, killing, and leaving no trace _before_ the rumors hit the Kage's ears.

This was the Hunter-nin group, relegated to guards. Village guards. But they were bored because no _true_ threat had come upon the village that they protected.

One of the hunter-nin paused in their regular chakra-scanning.

"Taicho, I have a blip. Possible danger, permission to approach?"

Their taicho was silent, then spoke.

"Permission granted."

The team abandoned their posts, moving to apprehend the large chakra signature that matched one of their former colleagues.

Well, since she was still _technically_ affiliated, they couldn't count her as an enemy. But the unknown beings with her, with her signature coiled around them, _they_ were the possible threat.

"Wait, Skull." Her voice was annoyingly high.

Specter Two gaped at the scene in front of him.

"Guys…" Specter Two was speechless. "Guys, _Naruto is a baby."_

Specter Two wasn't one for exaggerations.

"I mean a fucking _baby,_ tiny as fuck," Specter Two said, still in that stunned tone.

"Cut the chatter, Specter Two," Spectre One snapped… "Holy _shit,_ Spectre Ten is a baby!"

"I _hear you,_ Specters," Naruto snapped, looking up. Yep, it was really Specter Ten.

Specter Six broke rank and pulled the adorable child-Specter into a hug.

" _Specter Ten! I missed you!"_

" _SPECTER SIX, GET BACK INTO FORMATION!"_

"Really, Specters?" Naruto shoved herself from Specter Six, leaping and landing on the teenage boy's shoulder. "I come here and you all break formation? Bad form, Six. Bad form."

She may not have been Specter Ten _or_ Specter One, but hey. They took to her scoldings like little ducklings.

Specter Six cleared their throat. "I am simply showing how much I missed our dear beloved Naruto."

"That may be so, Specter Six, but even so." A solidly built man appeared, looming impressively over the three younger (younger _looking,_ in the case of Skull and Naruto) and Specter Six. "We have to take them to Hokage-sama."

~:~

Fon dodged Feng Mian's knives, carefully yet quickly.

"You're dragging, brother."

Fon eyed his sister. "These tiny bodies don't let me have the flexibility of my older self, Sister.

Feng Mian lowered her knives. "Same excuse that you've been dragging out for five years." Feng Mian blurred, catching Fon's chin right above his pacifier. The Storm's breath caught and he was slammed to the ground.

"You are _Fon,_ the Unaligned Assassin of the Triads. Now _act_ like it, or I'll kill you!"

Fon was beginning to regret his choice in allies now.

Nevertheless, he got up and readied himself for another bout.

His pacifier flared to life, causing Feng Mian to blink rapidly. It didn't flare _gold,_ exactly, and not for long – a _blink and you'll miss it_ moment – but there was definitely Sky Flame in him right then, as if his Sky was unconsciously feeding him Flame.

Fon felt instantly healed; for a moment he stared at his pacifier, wondering what the hell just happened.

But he didn't get a rest, and the thought slipped from his mind as his sister viciously attacked him, baring her strength.

The world seemed to slow, and Fon grinned.

~:~

Colonello stared at the Vongola Nono.

"You want me to be a guard for Mafia Land."

" _The_ guard," Nono said, emphasizing _the._ "The _sole_ guard."

"I got that impression, thanks." Lal was busy working in the new offshoot of the Vongola, the CEDEF, trying to track down leads on Naruto.

Colonello was beginning to have doubts she was alive. It'd been five years since they were cursed, and there was _still_ no sign of Naruto being alive.

There was a flare, and Sky settled into his bones. Vongola Nono didn't catch the flash, but Colonello did.

He would do what must be done.

"I'll do it."

~:~

"I don't like people trying to buy me into their Famiglia." Reborn shot the Carcassa member.

(Little did he know it was the same one that, five years prior, when the Donna was still the head of Vongola, tried to recruit Skull.)

(He missed the flare of Sky Flames that made his pacifier glow.)

"I'm Vongola!" the other Famiglia member yelped, Reborn narrowing his eyes.

"Talk, and talk quickly," he ordered the Vongola.

~:~

For a certain green-haired scientist, he mixed a tiny vial of Naruto's blood with an experiment.

His eyes widened as the thing started to bubble violently.

The young scientist ducked behind a desk, expecting an explosion.

When none was forthcoming, he peeked over the item he was hiding behind.

"It worked?" he wondered to himself.

Checking it, it looked like it had indeed worked. Taking a risk, Verde dipped a finger into it and felt no resistance aside from a tiny sting, indicating its acidity.

Verde swallowed. If it melted him from the inside out, then he deserved it for being stupid.

He drank a little, gasping and stumbling as the liquid experiment made its way down his throat.

He set the experiment down a little hard, lightning arcing over his skin. It was the result of his Flames mixing with her blood.

An interesting side effect, then.

Nothing noteworthy.

Except…

 _It had worked._ Maybe because he'd focused his Flame on it, focusing his Flame on the experiment, but – bit it'd _worked._

His Flames sank back in his skin, and he trembled for a minute before jotting down his notes in his book of working experiments, then poured the concoction in a vial and labeled it 'Experiment 24'. His notes were in his own hand; with one look at the page an hour later Verde decided to _not_ throw his Sky under the fucking bus and destroyed the page, but not before meticulously copying down what was on the other side of the page.

(He didn't know that at that moment his pacifier glowed with Sky Flames that could only belong to _his_ Sky.)

There was such a fine line in the journal, that nobody but a woman with purple-blue hair would find it later.

 _Verde should have destroyed Experiment 24._

~:~

Viper – Mammon, now – hovered around the Simon Famiglia, their Mist preventing them from being seen.

They'd been contracted to watch them, but they were bored and the person was going to run out of money.

"This venture is no longer profitable," Mammon decided, leaving without hinting at their presence.

They passed an alley, where a young teen looked half dead.

Mammon felt Sky Flames impress themselves upon them, and in the only charitable moment in their life (at that moment) Mammon helped the young woman.

(Mammon didn't know that this woman was going to be one of their future Boss' mothers.)

~:~

Naruto burned Flames in brilliant color, using his pacifier as the focus.

Konohamaru looked impressed.

"I see. So you're cursed. Again."

"In a way, yes," Naruto said, letting his Flames die down. Skull remained silent. "Look, all I wanted to ask was for you to let me train. I'm still an _affiliated_ shinobi, as the papers Tsunade requested me to sign said."

"Much has changed in five years," Konohamaru said, letting bangs shadow his face.

"My allegiances haven't," Naruto said, his eyes flashing red. "What of Momoshiki?"

"We assume he's dead," Konohamaru said, looking up at him after a moment.

"Bull _shit,"_ Naruto snapped. "You know as well as _I_ do that Otsutsukis don't fucking give up." Naruto's fist clenched. "It was another one that cursed me."

Konohamaru stared at him, along with Skull.

"They don't die, they're apparently like rabbits, and they have lots of powers we don't know about." Konohamaru's eyes were sharp. "Technically, you are one of them."

"My soul is different from my body." Naruto gestured to his tiny baby's body. "You can't honestly say _no_ to this face, can you?"

He closed her eyes and then opened them, peeking up at him with his large, large blue eyes.

"Pretty please?"

Konohamaru groaned. "Gods fuck me, I can't say _no_ to those eyes. Fine, train with your Specters." He tapped his chin. "Will Skull-san be joining you, or Ginger-san?"

"Only if they can keep up with chakra –"

"Naruto, that's not what I meant."

Naruto tensed.

"Skull, Ginger Bread, please leave."

Konohamaru opened his mouth, only for Naruto to cough and jerk his head to one of the pictures on the wall.

"Technically your superior," he said, lifting her hands onto his hips. "Don't make me pull rank, dude."

Konohamaru jerked his head.

The two left, unsurely.

"Naruto, you can't –"

"Konohamaru, saying that I was technically an Otsutsuki in front of them is one thing," he said, his eyes hard. "Pointing _that_ particular power out is something different. Flame users and chakra users are incompatible; introducing a chakra network into someone that's _technically_ fully-developed so suddenly was one thing. Introducing a chakra network into someone who's both _cursed_ and Flame-wielding? I don't think Skull or Ginger Bread would be ideal candidates."

"You, and according to this report, Matsuri, both used Flames."

"Matsuri…" Naruto sighed and sat down. "Matsuri was insane. She claimed to have a husband that died during Pein's invasion, yet she wasn't even _present."_

Konohamaru nodded, tapping his lips.

"She was highly experienced with puppets, so more than likely she was like Sasori and used his techniques, then created a fake persona for her."

"And you?" Konohamaru's question made her close her eyes.

"Checker-fucking-face. He appeared in my hideout and paid me a bunch of money to act as a Sky, and I thought I was merely acting," Naruto answered wearily. "Apparently, Checkerface – or someone – decided to fuck around with my powers. Flame and Chakra are incompatible, quite like chakra-users and Flame-wielders are incapable of producing children with chakra."

"If you were to mix them, theoretically?" Konohamaru looked intrigued.

Naruto hesitated. "Best case scenario, it gives 'em a boost," she reluctantly divulged, "while sterilizing their ability to have natural-born children. Worst case, they explode from the influx of power."

Konohamaru tapped his chin, opening his mouth –

"I'll tell them," she said, distracting him, "and I'll offer him a choice. But I swear on Inari, if he says _no,_ then I won't risk him exploding, and that's _final."_ Somewhere in this conversation she'd switched back to a girl and she hadn't even noticed. "And even if he does say yes and I power him up, doesn't mean he'll be one of us," she said, her eyes deadly serious.

Konohamaru looked taken aback by her words, but before he could speak, Naruto shrugged and hopped off the desk.

~:~

When Skull came to, he could feel that strange energy in his system. Naruto's blue eyes looked over him worriedly.

He found himself frowning when he sat up, still feeling the weight of the pacifier, but was definitely taller.

"Your height reset, somehow. Maybe the introduction of chakra?" Naruto looked worried.

Skull laid himself back down. "Right now, I don't think it's a good idea to move," he said out loud, his words coming out scratchily.

"Most likely the only thing you'll ever be able to do with it is augment your speed," she told him with a shaky smile.

Skull scoffed, accepting the glass of water Ginger Bread was handing him.

"That's acceptable," he admitted. "Like I _need_ augmenting."

~:~

"Are you ready to see them again?"

Naruto shrugged, the helicopter hovering over a familiar middle school in Japan. "I think it's better to see them now, Bermuda. Remind me why you're here?"

The other child hummed. "I'm simply here to check out a case of breaking Omerta."

The Mist vanished, leaving Naruto on her own.

Thirty years had passed since she'd seen most of her fellow Arcobaleno.

 _Time to rectify that._

Naruto whistled. Kia jumped onto her shoulder, and Naruto jumped.

 _Right into a battle that was happening between two of her pupils._

The future Decimo, and the Varia.

~:~

 **I know, I know, it jumped. It's just… I don't think it was a good idea to continue along the tangent of what was happening in the years** _ **between**_ **the Curse and at the start of the series.**

 **Okay, so I have two points I want to address.**

 **ONE: The thirty year thing.**

 **We all know (we should, I guess?) that Yuni is Luce's** _ **granddaughter,**_ **which would put the time between the Arcobaleno pacifiers given to Reborn and the others at the** _ **most**_ **thirty years, at the** _ **least**_ **twenty years, because of one person.**

 **Aria.**

 **In the beginning, Luce was** _ **pregnant**_ **with Aria. Even if Aria had Yuni at twenty – and yes, SPOILERS AHEAD – Yuni was at least a teenager during the anime series.**

 **(I have only watched the anime series, I'm sorry!)**

 **Either way, I would say about twenty-five years passed.**

 **Next chapter will be heavily involved with the other Arcobaleno! Yay!**

 **And yes, I DO have a reason for… Most of what I do in this fic. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

She landed on the ground with an earth-shaking _thud,_ cracking the ground around her.

"Despite the unintentional intervention, the successor to the Vongola throne has been decided."

The Cervello woman gave the Sky ring to Tsuna, Naruto turning to face Xanxus, who paled as he saw his tutor.

"XANXUS!"

She punched him, sending him flying.

"Xanxus _di Vongola,_ what did I say to you, _you piece of trash?"_

She didn't exactly _mean_ to insult her former student, it just… Happened.

"Not my fault," Xanxus grunted. "Look, you know I was only unfrozen a year ago –"

He was cut off by the grin on her face that she'd tried to keep from affecting the snarl.

"Yeah, yeah, make excuses. But _fighting a kid_ who didn't know the mafia existed until what… Like a few _months_ ago at the most?" Naruto shrugged. "Oi, Reborn! How long ago was it?"

"You must be an imposter." Reborn appeared before her, Leon in sniper form.

"Kia!"

Her fox changed, becoming far larger than was normal. Reborn landed on her head, and Naruto had a kunai out, slicing his gun.

Leon mutated to prevent damage, its tail dropping off.

"Sorry, Leon," Naruto called, recalling her kunai with chakra strings. "Nice to see ya, Reborn-san. Still a jackass?"

Reborn's eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name?"

Naruto laughed. "Hey, Viper!" She called, waving at her Mist.

Her Mist groaned. "Hello, Naruto," the Mist reluctantly said. "I thought you said you were searching for Bermuda."

"Ah, I found him, he left." Naruto walked towards Reborn, letting her pacifier show out of her jumpsuit, smiling gently. "As for how I know your name…"

She poked his pacifier, which glowed, resulting in his eyes widening. "I'm really Naruto, -ttebayo."

~:~

"You've spent the last thirty years traveling the world? I bet you went _back."_

It didn't matter the ears listening in at the table. Naruto's… Residence was currently filled with Varia, Cervello, and Vongola.

Naruto nodded as she sipped her soup. "Had to. Had to retrain my body. I wasn't satisfied with my body then. However, I was offered a position by Vongola Ottava, which I took… And then took a leave of absence immediately afterwards."

"Hmm."

"I thought…" Naruto closed her eyes. "I thought you all were dead until I met Skull again."

Reborn stood. "You met the _lackey?"_

"You've seen him, haven't you?" Naruto grinned. "I made sure to never cross your path, Reborn. Every time I saw you, or heard you, I left. Because I didn't think it was a good idea. You adjusted to our… Situation easily enough."

"You trained Xanxus." It wasn't a question. "Now that I've seen you again, it's obvious. The lack of finesse."

An irk mark made itself known on Naruto's forehead.

"Reborn!" Tsuna looked scared but offended. "When –"

"Let me guess," Reborn cut in. "When she found out what Iemitsu did to your Flames she gave them back and taught you to control them."

"Hell no." Naruto glanced at Tsuna apologetically. "I didn't even _know_ Tsu-kun had a Seal on his Flames until now. _That_ is new to me, yes."

Reborn glanced to Xanxus, who looked genuinely relaxed, smiling at Naruto with a not-there smile.

"You did something," he finally said to Naruto. "You trained Dame-Tsu-"

"Don't call him that." Naruto's voice was icy, cold. Reborn stared at his Sky with a sly smirk.

"You haven't changed."

Naruto set down her tea gently.

"I have," she said, standing. "I think it is _you_ who has not changed. Same old Reborn."

~:~

Naruto threw a glass at the wall, the shatter satisfying to her ears.

Bermuda watched her calmly.

"You know, you knew this would happen," the Vindice leader said.

Her eyes flashed red.

"I knew something similar would," she admitted. "But knowing what Iemitsu did –"

She slammed her fist into the wall, creating a hole.

"You need to relax," Bermuda said as cracks spread from the hole.

Naruto scowled at the other child. "Aren't you supposed to be doing some policing?"

"My underlings can take care of it." The Vindice leader hopped from his seat. "Our Sun broke Omerta by telling the baby Sky."

"I think we all break Omerta every now and then."

"You certainly did by telling everyone in your entire country."

Naruto flinched.

"I apologize."

"It no longer exists, so there's nothing to worry about." Naruto tried to remain calm, but the inadvertent reminder that her entire home country had been _wiped from the planet_ by Kaguya's asshole of a great grandson, Momoshiki.

Ten years. It'd been ten years and it was still a raw hole in the middle of her heart.

"I am sorry. Learning the secret –"

"Let's not talk about this any more," Naruto said, clenching her left fist. It hurt Tobi too much now to clench her right. "Let's just figure out what Reborn's doing here, at this point in time."

"That's easy," Bermuda laughed. "Massimo, Federico, and Enrico are all dead."

Naruto blinked, not really all that upset about the fact three people were dead.

"Should I know who they are?"

"Nono's sons," Bermuda said, his smile fading. "Xanxus' brothers?"

Naruto tossed her body on the bed beside Bermuda, sighing aloud.

"And why can't Xanxus inherit?"

"You're kidding, right?" Reborn's voice sounded from her window. "You trained Xanxus, but you don't know?"

"For the last eight and a half years I was sealed by the Ninth's Zero Point Breakthrough, so no, it never occurred to me to ask why my student – gods _damn you,_ Nono!" Realization flashed across her face.

"Why'd he seal _you?"_ Reborn asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Apparently my erratic, angry behavior around Xanxus led him to believe I'd be more of a threat to him than me when I'm not angry," Naruto said calmly, sitting up. "To be fair, my entire country had been obliterated. I had lots of time to reflect while I was _stuck in ice."_

"It's not technically ice," Bermuda intervened, his bandages on his face, probably since Reborn had appeared. He wasn't big on people seeing who he was. "It's Sky Flames –"

"Look, I know what they are," Naruto said, tired. "Like I said, I had a lot of time to reflect. Luckily I didn't get bored after I'd reflected. Checkerface finally deigned to explain shit to me."

"What do you mean, your entire country got _obliterated?"_

Naruto gazed at him.

"You know that ninja I told you guys about? Momoshiki?"

Reborn nodded.

"Well, I've been going back to my home every couple of years, usually with Skull, just to make sure my home was safe." Naruto swallowed the lump in her throat. "I… I went there a decade ago at Checkerface's insistence. I was on a boat – only way to access it without Checkerface – and – and –"

Her throat tightened again.

"I was almost there when Momoshiki unleashed his chakra. He – he used some sort of technique to – to – kill the people first and then the land." Naruto refused to let the sob that so desperately wanted to crawl out of her throat loose. "It was gone in about an hour, the entire country… There was nothing I could do – I've tried and failed to defeat Momoshiki – I can't win without using –"

 _Without using them, and I promised them I wouldn't._

"And I can't ever go back, not even to visit again." Naruto had _Raged_ so angrily that Checkerface had to put her in a pocket dimension until she was ready to be in regular society. The next year and a half was a blur, mostly her using poisons as drugs and an unstable position of being Xanxus' teacher.

She _really_ let herself go.

"Did he release a pathogen?"

"His chakra was far more than a pathogen," Naruto said. "It's like ice. It freezes you in place and forces your chakra to eat away at your body. Really, he's stealing the chakra of over a million beings, and he can match me the way I currently am and I _can't_ beat him." She took a deep breath.

"Does he have restrictions on when he comes and goes?" Reborn was curious.

"Any night with a moon," Naruto murmured, her eyes darkened with dark thoughts. "Anyway! I really, _really_ don't want to talk about it." She clapped her hands together. "I want to help Tsuna."

Reborn smiled. "I want you to help," he agreed. "Tsuna has yet to truly inherit the ability of the Vongola; he cannot take on the Dying Will mode without pills or guns. I would ask you to help him bring out that ability."

Naruto stared at him, confused.

"We've barely tolerated each other since the moment we first met," she told him. "Why do you think I could do this?"

 _This_ meaning do what he asked.

"Because," Reborn said, that smile still on his face, "you did it without realizing it when we were in your village."

~:~

Tsuna gulped as his former neighbor entered his room, Reborn smirking on the way out.

Naruto hadn't been at the house next to his since a year previous, when she'd returned and abruptly vanished. Now that he knew that the babies with the pacifiers colored oddly were in a group called the I Prescelti Sette, he understood that they were heavily involved with the mafia.

"I'm here to show you how to use your Flames, Tsu-kun," she told him, her blue eyes reminding him of a cerulean sky. "Without pills. Or shots from a gun."

"I thought that was impossible," Tsuna admitted.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. "Let's go to my house. Xanxus is resting up, but he won't bother us."

Tsuna hesitated before getting up, bending down to keep ahold of her hand.

They walked out of the house, ignoring everyone (well, Tsuna did give a reassuring 'I'll be back!' to his mother) and walking through Naruto's house to the back, this time really ignoring the stares of the Varia.

Outside there was a pretty koi pond, and a giant sakura tree. No cherry blossoms fell to the ground.

"How is this possible?" he breathed, Naruto's hand slipping from his.

"That is from my country," she said softly, walking over to it. "It's from a place known as Hashirama Gardens. Every five years a seed is given, and, when planted, it resists all form of destruction, even the changing of the seasons. I collect the seeds, store them away in case they're needed."

She placed a hand on the truck.

"Come over here, Tsuna." She beckoned him to the tree. "Place a hand on it."

Tsuna wondered if this was some sort of test, but nonetheless put his hand on the tree trunk.

Warmth filled his body.

"I would like you to lay down, now."

Tsuna blinked, his eyes aching. Actually, everything was. And it was cold.

"EEEEH? But it was just morning!"

"These trees are dangerous if you're not like me." Naruto smiled and gestured to a patch of clean grass.

Tsuna took his hand off, wincing as the warmth faded. A remnant clung onto him like it was reluctant to leave.

Naruto lifted her hands as Tsuna laid in the grass, and a green glow affixed itself to her fingers, creathing a soothing coolness. It didn't touch the warmth; as it got close Tsuna felt blinding pain sweep through him.

"AAH! Stop, please!"

Naruto withdrew, frowning.

Tsuna gasped. "I feel…"

"Tsuna."

Tsuna turned to her, breathing raggedly.

"Do you trust me?" Her eyes were surprisingly gentle.

Tsuna nodded. "Hai."

"Then I need you to close your eyes and seek out your Flames. Don't touch them, simply go into your mind and look for them."

Tsuna closed his eyes and focused on the warmth that had remained with him.

He relaxed, thinking about the warmth, the aspects – protect, lead, guide –

A spark of orange danced in his mind, and he followed it to the source, a tiny light that was surrounded by ominous black.

 _I found it._

He wasn't aware he'd spoken out.

 _Describe it._ Naruto's voice curled in his mind invasively, yet he didn't feel threatened.

 _Black around a burning orange Flame,_ he replied unconsciously.

 _Feel for your Bonds._

He found them, glimmering. _Just barely there._ He could sense them, the personality behind them.

 _If you trust me, I'm going to break the Seal around your Flames. Tsuna…_ Tsuna withdrew from his bonds, listening to the disembodied voice in his head. _Tsuna, I need you to grab your Flames, and think about those important bonds._

Tsuna's intuition said to do as she said.

He reached for his Flames, and they reached him. He thought about his newfound Family, about what he would do to keep them. He _didn't_ think about his irritation at being a mafia boss, at this whole situation.

He thought about his fellow Sky, even she his Flames curled around him and the blackness shattered around him, throwing his bonds into stark relief as his Flames protectively surged.

 _Good job, Tsuna._

~:~

Xanxus watched the Sky Arcobaleno touch the baby trash's face with her glowing fingers. Her eyes flashed between sky blue and Sky orange, she spoke words to a barely-responsive baby trash and the baby trash responded.

The hairs on his arms rose as pure Sky Flames exploded into being. Xanxus stared at the baby trash and Sky Arcobaleno, his Flames unconsciously sparking to life in response.

Tsuna lurched up and stared at his Flames, not exactly in Hyper Dying Will Mode but not in the weird Dying Will mode where his clothes vanished.

"Boss!" Squalo pointed at the Sky Arcobaleno, whose pacifier was glowing in response to the sudden Activation. For a moment, the baby form of the girl switched to an adult form, kneeling on the ground with hair whipping about her.

The it was gone, the pacifier still glowing.

"Holy shit," Xanxus uttered.

"Er, boss?" Lussuria poked him.

"What, Sun trash?"

"You're on fire, too, Boss."

"Don't be a fucking dumbass. I'm not Wrathful the moment."

"Er… Boss… Your Flames are actually like Vongola Decimo's," Lussuria said.

Xanxus looked to his hands, and there they were – brilliant Sky Flames that were rather…

…tranquil.

He returned his stare to the baby outside.

~:~

Naruto caught the pink bazooka and opened her mouth. "Lambo-san, it's –"

Without another word, she found herself traveling down a very trippy tunnel, then enveloped in pink smoke.

She coughed the smoke out of her lungs, standing up with an eyebrow twitching – when there was an "eh?" sound.

Naruto turned, looking at the people around her, dressed all in white. Her eyebrow twitched as the white-haired man laughed.

"Hello, baby!" he said with that creepy-ass smile. "You wouldn't happen to know where your adult self we –" a high-pitched scream exited the male's mouth as Naruto removed her foot (and by extension the rest of her body) off of the man, kicking him in the face before alighting on another's head.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" she demanded rudely, withdrawing her kunai. "I'd suggest you answer before I decide to end you all!"

"Naruto-san."

Naruto looked down. Dull, empty eyes met hers.

"Naruto-san, I have seen this ending," the descendant of Luce said. "Please turn your pacifier in."

"You must be Aria-chan's daughter," Naruto mused. "I will spare your life this once as a gift to Luce."

She jumped and landed on the redhead's head, the one right next to the white-haired idiots. "Now, before I start slicing and dicing, what the _fuck_ is this place and who the _hell_ are you perverts?"

~:~

Reborn froze at the person who exited the cannon (as did pretty much everyone else…).

Naruto stood there, pacifier hanging around her neck, wearing that atrocious orange jumpsuit. Her eyes were hard and instantly assessing the danger.

"Oh," she said after a moment of silence. " _Oh._ I see."

"Naruto-san," Reborn recovered. "It's nice to see you."

She looked at him sharply…

…and burst into tears.

" _You're here!"_ she said, scooping Reborn up and sobbing loudly. "You're _here!"_ she repeated.

Reborn's mind halted.

He was… Dead in the future? What? _Why?_

One thing was certain. He needed Lambo to shoot him with the Ten Year Bazooka, and _soon._

Because if Naruto was _here,_ and _sobbing_ about _him_ not being there, the others must be there.

(Then again, Reborn and her _did_ have much more of a history, despite the thirty-year gap.)

He swatted her head.

"Dame-Naruto," he said, attaching Tsuna's name to hers. "Sit down and eat for the next four minutes."

There was nothing betraying her face, but she nodded.

~:~

"Like _hell_ am I giving you my pacifier!" Naruto's objection made Byakuran smile and toss a marshmallow into his mouth, comfortable. He should be, since they were all in Italy at the moment, in the headquarters of the Millefiore Famiglia.

"And why not? You'll be free of your curse," Byakuran laughed.

Naruto smirked.

"Because it'll mess with the time stream."

Byakuran froze.

"Of course, you _could_ take my pacifier," Naruto said, smirking, "but, when my older self gets back here, she'll be far more powerful, you see. You won't be able to kill her then."

Byakuran's smile returned. "You make a valid point," he said. "Unfortunately for you, I wasn't _asking,_ little baby."

Naruto stared at him as people began entering.

"Ah, Byakuran-san… You mistake me for someone who doesn't fight."

"Ah, but you _can't_ fight, not really," Byakuran countered. "It's either me, or you can _try_ to beat me."

"There's a third option," Naruto revealed, standing and hopping to the table, entirely at ease. "In fact, I bet that when Lambo shot me with that damn thing that I ruined whatever plan I had. I bet," she continued, discreetly mapping an escape plan, "that I was trying to kill you, Byakuran-san."

She smiled.

"Kia, grow."

Kia jumped off Naruto's shoulder and roared, hiding Naruto from view. Effectively blocking her from escaping, or so everyone thought…

"Bye!"

A window crashed, Naruto falling with a whoop.

"You left your fox!" Byakuran reached out –

Only to encounter air as Kia winked out of existence.

~:~

The adult Naruto was worried. Five _hours_ had long since passed, and she wasn't back to her time.

Reborn's weight settled onto her shoulder.

" _Cioassu,"_ Reborn greeted her. "So why were you so distraught when you saw me?"

"Always one to get straight to the point," the adult smiled. "In all seriousness, you're dad in the future. All the Arcobaleno are."

She grasped her pacifier.

"Except you," countered Reborn.

"And Lal." Naruto glanced out of the corner of her eyes. "Lal and I are alone."

"Why are you an adult?" asked Reborn, hopping to the desk in the room. Naruto worried her lip.

"A result of everyone else dying," she said at last, not entirely lying but not telling the full truth.

"You suck at omission," Reborn said to her.

"I know." She grimaced. "Reborn, I was supposed to be back by now. It's been hours." She jumped up. "He could have taken younger-me back to Italy by now and taken her pacifier."

Reborn stared at her.

"You _really_ think your younger self would give her pacifier to _anyone?"_

Naruto glanced at him. "I'm no longer sure what I would do ten years ago, had I had someone to help me."

She walked out of the room.

~:~

Naruto looked around Namimori, sensing for Tsuna's Flame signature. Or anyone familiar.

Her Flames latched onto one of her Rain Guardians, and she started to run in that direction – right when there was pink smoke and her adult self was standing there, looking stunned.

Naruto screeched to a stop, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping she was seeing things, because she wasn't staring at _herself,_ right?

"This is weird," she finally said aloud.

"You betcha," her adult self said, staring at her avidly. "You know, I kinda wondered what it would be like if I had a mini-me at my disposal."

" _Our_ disposal," child-Naruto said with a sharp grin, matched by the older one.

They both cackled, thinking of all the chaos that would probably happen.

(In Italy, one certain Varia leader had a chill going down his spine as he suddenly got a bad feeling… Er, _two_ bad feelings.

He… _Almost_ felt bad for the Millefiore. _Almost._ They'd still killed the baby trash, so he didn't feel _too_ inclined to take pity on them.)

~:~

Lal was… Appropriately shocked once Naruto made it back to the base with herself on her shoulder. Both Kia-foxes sniffed each other, the elder fox eventually caving to the smaller version, while Naruto and Naruto sat at the table. Fuuta and Gianini both stared in awe at both Narutos' appetite, with the tinier version eating two plates more than the other.

"You eat a lot," Fuuta said, his eyes wide.

"I'm surprisingly not fat," Naruto said with a sharp grin, her tiny size making it seem out of place.

"Shinobi metabolism is approximately a hundred times faster than the normal one," Naruto rattled off. Looking at Naruto, both shared a smile.

"We asked Verde to look that up, didn't we?" Mini-Naruto asked.

"Yep," Adult-Naruto said. "Like… Fifteen, sixteen years into the Curse?"

"He was so shocked he spilled acid on me," Mini-Naruto beamed. "Good times."

"Yeah." Adult-Naruto smiled. "Hey, I think because of our powers not being simply Flame-centric, that's what's fucking up our return ability. It only took me ten hours. How long have you been here?"

"Hmm, about three days." Adult-Naruto frowned, Mini-Naruto nodded. "Time must move differently, especially because time travel hasn't exactly been widespread here."

Just then, the kitchen door opened.

Looking up, the two doubles got themselves eyes filled with filled-out hunks of men. And a pretty woman.

"Why, _hello there,_ gorgeous hunks," Adult-Naruto said, lowering her voice. "And bea _utiful_ maiden," he added, switching genders as he spoke to the purple-haired woman, who flushed bright red.

"If _this_ is what I have to look forward to as an adult, then I suppose – _wait just a second,_ you _finally_ had sex?" Mini-Naruto punched her adult form. Her adult form simply raised an eyebrow.

"Honey, I can honestly tell you that my first time was with the _least_ expected man in the world," the adult commented, not even batting an eye as he ignored the newcomers to focus on his child-self.

"Oh my _gods,"_ Naruto said, getting it. " _Please_ tell me he was an –"

"Tch, of _course he was,_ you fucking _moron!_ All it took was Bermuda and Checkerface, you damn stupid idiot." Naruto punched his miniture, female self.

It _hurt,_ even more so that the miniature version was _smaller,_ and therefore could only use _chakra-enhanced_ punches (and really, compared to _this_ punch the chakra-enhanced punches were fucking _love taps!_ ), not having the strength to send someone flying through about seven walls like Tsunade with _just_ her fist and no chakra behind it.

Unlike _this_ version, who punched her so hard she flew through about seven walls before hitting a really _solid_ one that seemed to be able to take a hit (or the mini's body had lost momentum with the six _other_ walls of varying thickness) before falling.

Luckily, Naruto was picked up by Lal's… Centipede thing and returned, so… No harm done.

"-back about ten years in the past using Lambo's damn Ten Year Bazooka being used on Mini-me. Mini-me was unfortunately still here when I returned," Adult-Naruto was saying to the people in the doorway. "Still, if the Varia caught you up on the plan, then there's not much I can say except that it failed."

"Yeah, the Varia caught us up. And we gathered that," the tall silverette said, his green eyes lighting on the miniature Arcobaleno. "Wow, it's been a long time since we saw an Arcobaleno your size around," he nodded, getting _right_ in Naruto's face.

Naruto gained an irk mark and looked at her alternate. "Seriously, who are all these people?"

Her alternate smiled. "That's Gokudera Hayato."

Naruto's eyes popped. "What the _fuck?"_ she demanded, in shock. "So the Bovino Famiglia _perfected_ time travel?"

"More like… Helped it along. I don't fucking _know,"_ snapped her male counterpart. "Right now I don't have time for my questions, Naruto."

"Fuck you," Naruto said, getting up in her counterpart's face.

"No thanks, not into children."

Naruto took a _deep_ breath.

"Training room, now," she told her future self, eyes flashing red.

Actual fear flashed in her counterpart's face.

~:~

" _Sasuke… What did you do?"_

 _The whisper wasn't accusing, it was horrified._

 _Her male counterpart smiled where he lay._

" _What I should have done, lifetimes ago."_

 _Sakura raced up, glancing at Sasuke before rushing to Naruto._

" _No – Sakura, heal Sasuke." Naruto panicked. "Sakura, heal – no, Sasuke, don't you fucking DARE LEAVE, stay away – SAKURA, LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

 _Despite the pain her arm was putting her through, she tried to move away._

" _Sakura, Sasuke –" Kakashi started, only to shut up as Naruto screamed, chakra sending the two away from them. Naruto was cloaked by pure bijuu energy._

 _She scrambled to one arm, the crescent moon symbol appearing on her palm (not that she noticed). She called up healing energy, only a paltry amount, and tried to heal him._

 _In her mind, eleven beings remained._

 _Kakashi knocked her out as she sobbed, still trying to heal Sasuke._

 _~:~_

" _I will never use their power."_

 _Those words were uttered to a disbelieving Konoha Council from the mouth of their savior._

" _I will never use their power with or without their consent," she vowed. "I will only use my power."_

" _Very well," Koharu grumbled. "Denying you the hat now would be useless."_

 _She said nothing, her new arm twitching, not quite used to being an arm._

" _Hokage-sama, we await your orders."_

 _~:~_

" _I've tried being Hokage and it didn't work, thanks to Sakura," Naruto said, trying her best to keep it together. "I want work where I don't have to feel – or, if I do, it won't be looked down upon."_

" _You know if they find out who you are it might get out to the civilians," Tsunade warned._

 _Naruto shrugged. "I resigned. The worst that could happen is I have to run." She attempted a half smile. "I'm good at running. I ran from the Akatsuki all those times."_

" _Very well. You are assigned to the Hunter-ops." Tsunade gave a smirk at Naruto's flabbergasted face. "I'll give you a team shortly."_

 _~:~_

" _Hey, good job, shorty," Specter One said, slapping a masked Naruto on the back. "You're an amazing tracker. You an Inuzuka?"_

" _No," Naruto said flatly, walking off._

" _You know, we've all shared our identities with each other," Specter Six said gently. "We wouldn't judge you for whoever you are."_

 _Naruto chuckled under her mask._

" _Problem is that's_ exactly _what you'll do," she whispered as Specter Six danced off._

 _~:~_

" _AAAH!" Specter Six fell. "Hostile Otsutsuki!"_

 _Naruto turned and vanished in a_ shunshin, _landing in front of Specter Six. She had seconds to spare, seconds to think._

 _She could either let the fool destroy her mask… Or let Specter Six die with that one punch._

 _She closed her eyes._

 _Her mask shattered._

 _Chatter on the radio died._

 _Her yellow hair, revealed under the 'bland person henge' jutsu, danced in the wind._

 _She didn't turn to face Six as she went into Sage Mode, her eyes becoming yellow with black bars._

 _Naruto ducked under the a-hole's arm and formed a Rasenshuriken._

 _The jutsu tossed Momoshiki away from her, then exploded._

 _Naruto kept Six from blowing away by catching her wrist and healing her legs quickly._

 _She stood as she sensed her other team members nearby and smiled bitterly._

" _Tell Tsunade that I'm gone," she told Seven before getting out of there, unable to handle one more minute there, in the middle of the group._

 _She fled Hi no Kuni, going in an aimless direction._

 _~:~_

 _Two months after the war, December tenth, Naruto was_ totally _living it up. Sure, she'd explained things to her former team – who, after hearing from Tsunade that they_ were not _to actually locate her – but she was still on the run._

 _In some ways, it wasn't so bad. Nobody could find her, thanks to the fact that while Snow Country was allied to Konoha, it didn't_ actively _invite Konoha or anyone else in. So even if they felt Naruto, they couldn't go searching on a whim._

 _She was entering her house after going out to get groceries when something alerted her to another's presence._

 _She made no attempt to mask hers, going room to room and putting things away as though she hadn't sensed anyone, then threw kunai at the ceiling, activating a trap seal that flared and caught the intruder._

 _He was wearing an iron mask and a top hat._

 _That alone put Naruto on edge. This man had no chakra – instead, she could sense a foreign energy in him that grated on her nerves._

 _She narrowed her eyes as his opened…_

… _and proceeded to switch to a boy, before smashing the mask with his fist._

 _The man blinked, stunned. Red blood trickled down his face._

 _Naruto growled and struck out again, seemingly at air._

 _His hand was grabbed, a paralyzing grip that nearly shook the kunai out of it._

 _Naruto's eye burned. "_ Amaterasu," _his voice rasped out – no, Sasuke's – and black flames came from his eye._

 _The grip vanished, and Naruto jumped as air whistled._

 _He and something collided; both fell to the ground with a man being revealed, sans mask and hat._

" _So you are the one who defeated my_ dear _niece," noted the man with a smile._

 _Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Otsutsuki," he spat, the name a curse from his lips._

" _Oh, dear one," the Otsutsuki smiled. "You can't defeat me. Not without Hagoromo's_ other _son."_

 _Naruto shoved his remaining hand at the man, showing off his palm._

 _The man smiled, this time paler than before._

" _Fine," he said, edging away. "You could. But before you do, I have an offer you might want to hear."_

 _Naruto remained standing._

" _I would like to hire you as a Sky." Naruto stared at him blankly. "In my country, there are seven of the world's greatest individuals. My sister Sephira had many children, your Kaguya not among them – she is my brother's descendant – and Luce, Sephira's descendant, is pregnant."_

" _And this means?" asked Naruto._

" _It means that Luce and her daughter and her granddaughter will not live to see past the age of forty," the man said. "I am asking you to save them."_

" _I don't even know your name and you're asking me to save someone?" Naruto asked skeptically._

 _The man smiled again._

" _You can call me Checkerface in the presence of the I Prescelti Sette. My real name," he said, bowing to her, "is Otsutsuki Kawahira."_

~:~

"It must be her power," Reborn concluded after three days of worrying. "No need to worry about her, Dame-Tsuna. What you need to worry about is you learning how to call your Flames up by –"

Pink smoke filled the room.

When the smoke vanished, Naruto stood there, looking sick and pale.

"Reborn!" she looked happy to see him. "I hate my future self," she announced. "I'm leaving."

She was gone before more words could be spoken.

~:~

" _You haven't been here the last ten years!"_

" _Ten years! Nothing could change in ten years!"_

 _He got up in her face. "How would_ you _know?"_

 _Her eyes bored into his._

" _Because I know who I am right now."_

" _No you don't."_

 _They separated._

" _You can barely_ look _at Reborn, after hiding from him. Why you hid from him – why_ we _hid – was because of who he reminded you of." He sneered at her. "You can't even beat Momoshiki because of a vow you couldn't break!"_

 _Naruto stared at her counterpart, and snorted._

" _Wow," she laughed. "We_ are _different. You just made me realize something I should've realized a_ long _time ago!"_

 _Before her counterpart could ask, Naruto vanished._

~:~

Naruto shouldered the backpack. Something told her she needed to go with Tsuna to the future.

"Oi, Tsu-kun!" She called, causing the boy to halt ahead of her. Tsuna turned, his eyes wide.

"Yes?"

"You're planning on using the Ten-Year Bazooka on you, aren't you?"

Tsuna swallowed. "Yes?" he tried.

Naruto smiled. "I'm coming with you."

~:~

She woke up, not with Tsuna, but in a distinctly taller body and different room.

She stretched, standing up and walking out of the room.

"Naruto!" Gokudera looked respectful of her. "We're burying Jyuudaime today."

Naruto eyed the coffin.

"Not a good idea," Naruto said bluntly. She heard a muffled gasp and pushed the coffin open, causing Gokudera to gape and Yamamoto to blink stupidly.

(Apparently, she'd taken over her future self's body, including the memory.)

Tsuna sat up.

"Also, is Reborn here?" Naruto asked idly, tapping her chin. "We really need to figure out a plan of attack against the Millefiore."

~:~

"Naruto, you're the best one to help the group," Reborn announced. "The you in this time seems to not be affected by the anti-tri-ni-sette radiation."

"I'm affected, but it passes," Naruto admitted, calling up her older self's memory – and screeching in shock before slamming the palm of her hand into her forehead.

The group just looked weirded out by her actions.

Naruto groaned. "Apparently I like sex a lot," she informed everybody without any embarrassment. "Which is an odd thought."

"What, you'd never had sex before?" Lal laughed.

Naruto blinked at her. "No," she said flatly. "I've never had sex before."

There was a dead silence.

"But apparently Future-me will sleep with anyone." Naruto put a hand to her forehead, wincing. "I really hate this right now."

~:~

They ran down the passage of the Millefiore base. Naruto stopped them near the control room.

"When I say run for the control room, I mean run for it," she told them, her eyes blazing.

They nodded and got ready.

" _Run."_

Naruto reached out with her chakra, augmenting their speed as she darted in the middle of the room.

"Hello, Auntie!"

A childish voice met her ears.

Naruto grinned and turned, meeting Ginger Bread's eyes.

"I can't believe I get to fight _you,_ Auntie!" Ginger Bread grinned predatorily. "Maybe I'll be serious enough for you to take out your _naginata."_

"Dream on," Naruto smiled, closing her eyes. "I can beat you with my eyes closed… _Magician's Doll."_

Ginger Bread giggled, then proceeded to snap.

Sun Flames spread throughout the room.

Naruto took out her kunai and prepared to kill.

~:~

Naruto followed the Sky Flames, deeper and deeper in the facility, entering the spillway.

Robots – what had Reborn called them? Moska? – were facing off with Tsuna, who was in full Hyper Dying Will mode, ready to attack with his X-Burner.

Naruto took out paper bombs.

Thanks to the fact Japan did have rice paper, she could create paper bombs easily.

She refrained from becoming visible just yet, a Mammon-chain over her pacifier.

(Just thinking of Viper's suicide hurt her heart.)

Tsuna fired the X-Burner, destroying two more Moska. He was flung back, thanks to the kick. It wasn't powerful enough yet. Tsuna fell to the ground, the Moska on the ground opening and revealing an even uglier jumpsuit than Lee's.

"Sorry, kid," the man said, sounding bored. The man paused, staring at the hole. Naruto tensed, doing a _shunshin_ to get behind the man. The kunai was inches away when he spoke.

"It's not complete yet."

~:~

"It's not complete yet," Spanner mused. He hesitated, looking down at the brat. "Tch." He set the gun down, leaning forward and scooping the boy up.

He turned, his eyes suddenly crossed as they looked down a very sharp, very primitive, and _very_ deadly weapon.

Fury burned in the blue eyes of the Sky Arcobaleno.

"It's a good thing you intrigued me enough not to kill you," the Sky Arcobaleno said, her voice dark.

Spanner swallowed.

"What do you mean, _it's not complete yet?"_

Spanner sucked on his candy. "His power is too wild. If he was more precise, then… Maybe, he could've killed me."

Her eyes widened.

"Look, if you want to find out what I mean, then by all means, take the kid, he's getting heavy."

~:~

Naruto stood outside, on guard. To anyone else, she was simply sitting out there, sleeping (or so it seemed). Spanner was getting it into Tsuna's thick skull how close he came to actually dying.

 _This isn't a game, Naruto. You could lose your life out there._

A nostalgic smile came upon her face as she brought out her katana.

Not her family blade, but if the feeling of the approaching enemies were any indication, this was going to be a serious battle.

Her Flames reached out to Tsuna.

Unable to fully manifest due to the presence of the pacifier, they nevertheless attracted Tsuna's attention.

 _It's all right,_ she soothed his Flames, letting the agitation fuel her.

Her eyes snapped open as the enemy reached her.

 _I'll make sure you're safe, little Sky._

Harmonization, the first Harmony of two Skies, connected the two.

And with a vicious battle cry, Kia and Naruto launched themselves into battle with the other Flame users.

~:~

Tsuna jumped as Naruto fell through the door, a weapon clattering to the ground.

"Tch, tch," laughed the woman with purple flames. "You're nothing, little Arcobaleno! Pathetic, now that you can't use your Flames!"

The Sky Arcobaleno, caught in the grasp of rather unsightly thugs, only smirked as Spanner hastily shoved the contacts at Tsuna.

"I didn't need to defeat you," the woman said, still smirking. "I was only what you call a _distraction,_ honey."

"Where is Ginger Bread?" the woman screeched, annoyed.

The taller Arcobaleno snickered. "Did Ginger Bread never tell you that the Arcobaleno are like family to him?" she said, still laughing.

The woman struck Naruto across the face.

"Destroy her!"

The Arcobaleno woman cried out as her entire midsection was punctured.

There was a shocked silence, and Tsuna burst into Flames, his resolve burning bright.

" _Naruto-san!"_

~:~

" _Aria-san?"_

 _Aria smiled at her._

" _It's about time you visited me, Auntie." Aria was an adult; Naruto smiled at her._

" _Hello, Aria-chan. What're we doing today?"_

" _Mother wants to talk to you."_

" _Luce?" The Ottava Giglio Nero Boss appeared, smiling at Naruto._

" _Hello, Naruto-san." Luce settled her hand on Aria's shoulder. "We're simply here to tell you that the curse can be broken. Bermuda's Flames –"_

 _They were vanishing, and Naruto frowned as Luce's mouth moved but only picked up muffled words._

" _Luce? Aria? I can't hear you!"_

~:~

"-about Naruto-san?"

"She's dead. There's not much we can do," Spanner groaned, sounding like he was in pain.

Naruto winced and groaned.

" _EH? SHE'S ALIVE?"_

" _Urusai,_ baka," Naruto hissed, her head pounding as usual.

"Naruto can't die," Reborn said flatly. "That's part of what makes her unique."

She stood, gripping her sword and sealing it back in her arm.

"Tobi…" She poked her real arm, where Tobi moved. "I swear, if my arm isn't back…"

Tobi shifted, revealing a tan arm while forming his mask.

Tsuna looked really grossed out; Reborn looked slightly disgusted.

Naruto flexed as Tobi spoke.

"Tobi is a good boi! Tobi is ready to use his Mokuton abilities!"

Naruto froze, then turned her head slowly, dropping an intense glare at the remains of her people.

" **Tobi…"** She knew her eyes were flashing red. **"I swear if you kept that information from me, I'll kill you."**

Tobi shivered. "Tobi must feed off of host's chakra and convert it!" he yelped. "Tobi only wanted to use it as a last resort!"

Naruto glanced towards the door. "I'm going to get myself caught." Her statement obviously stumped everyone. "And then I'm going to take those bastards out. Because there's one thing you never mess with."

 _My family._

Naruto strode out of the room and walked down the hallway.

"Naruto."

Naruto paused.

"Don't make me bail you out again, stupid."

Naruto turned. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, staring at Reborn. She'd never been bailed out by him before, right?

He only gave her a smile, then vanished.

… _the hell?_

Naruto turned, ready to take out the bastards who'd taken both sets of her Family.

 _Viper._

 _Colonello._

 _Skull._

 _Fon._

 _Verde._

 _Reborn._

She was the Arcobaleno left over, the Sky.

~:~

"Bermuda-sama."

A baby with a tophat, as well as a bandaged face, looked towards his subordinate.

"The Sky is here."

Paperwork fell to the desk as Bermuda vanished without a single word, black mist fading.

"…I hate it when he does that."

~:~

Byakuran hummed to himself. Everything was settling into place, with a neat little bow.

One of the middle marshmallows of his beautiful marshmallow caste slipped through, causing the whole, elaborate castle to collapse.

Byakuran hummed.

The Arcobaleno Sky was, by Shoichi-kun's report, dead. Merone Base, however, hadn't been heard from since then.

"She's not dead, hmm?"

" _You soon will be, Byakuran."_

"Bermuda-kun! Still not taking my offer of my ring for that meddlesome Rokudo?" Byakuran smiled – this was one person he _couldn't_ intimidate.

" _No."_ Bermuda seemed to smile, the bandages shifting to show teeth. _"You're going to fight two Skies at the end of this, Byakuran."_

Bermuda vanished in black mist.

Byakuran swallowed.

~:~

 **So I know nobody probably reads these... Unless you do, that's okay, too, I just wanted to clear something up.**

 **I have only ever watched the KHR anime, as well as the Naruto anime. I have not read _any_ of the KHR manga, but I do own several Naruto manga.**

 **...as soon as I finish the Fairy Tail manga. I am like seriously behind... even though I watched the anime.**

 **Yep. I'm one of the avid _anime_ watchers, not so much a _manga_ reader, though I have started reading it. **

**And on that point, I haven't even finished the anime for KHR, and have watched the Naruto anime... Mostly. I did skip a few episodes.**

 **Okay, that's it. Hope you liked, and I think there's two more chapters in this story and I'm done!**


	4. Chapter 4

" _Brat! I have a job to do, so you're on your own!"_

 _Naruto groaned as she shoved herself awake. "I need food money, Ero-Sennin! And you're supposed to be training me!"_

 _A bag was tossed at her face._

 _She yelped and fell on her back, dragging the bag off her face, her eyebrow twitching, annoyed._

 _The hotel door slammed._

 _Naruto made a face, then sighed and got up, making her way out, the bag on her hip. Jiraiya was already gone, lost in the crowds._

 _Naruto rolled her eyes and walked to the first store, making note of names and faces._

 _Jiraiya had left her a code in the bag, having told her before they left. She'd have to make her way to that town within the month; right now, she just had to stay out of trouble._

" _-think she's really in this town?" a familiar voice grated._

 _Naruto tensed a little, glad she was wearing a hat to mask her hair. Nevertheless, she'd have to hurry to the hotel to get her dirty clothes._

 _She laughed, turning to the man beside her. He had strange sideburns._

" _Maa, maa, Shiki-san, this milk has an expiration date of three weeks from now!" She giggled. "How silly of you!" She kept that smile on her face as she hissed, "Please just go along with this."_

 _He seemed to understand. "Mimiko-chan, insightful as always." He set the milk down. "Would you like to go back to the hotel? I find myself bored."_

 _Her ears picked up sound._

" _-the Sennin, he picks the hotel closest to the onsen."_

 _Ha, fucker! I picked the hotel this time!_

" _Of course." She kept her eyes lowered, the stranger's physique hiding her from Itachi and Kisame. Thankfully, he was heading towards the Spring's Inn. "Keep walking, please," she said through that fake-ass smile, pretending to be relaxed as she felt sudden resistance from the man._

 _They parted ways at the Spring's Inn, which should have been the end of it._

 _~:~_

 _She ran out of town like she was catching up to someone. When she was out of the town and about ten miles out, she stopped, ready to set some traps._

 _Sitting in the middle of her trap-infested area, he was reading a book when he heard two sets of approaching footsteps._

" _Naruto-kun."_

"Matte _, Itachi-san. I really wanna finish this chapter before I get taken to the Akatsuki." He snapped the book shut and stood, keeping his eyes closed – and then opening them and staring at the man behind the two, who was aiming a strange weapon at Itachi._

 _He ground his teeth. "Fuck."_

 _He ran at them, snapping and setting off the paper bombs, then vanishing and pulling the man with the strange sideburns away, jumping easily with the man adjusting to being carried by a child about a decade younger than him._

 _He set the man with weird sideburns down about six miles away, nowhere near a safe zone._

" _Stay!" he yelled at the man like he was a dog. "You just ruined my plan!"_

" _Uncomplicated_ mine _, brat."_

 _Naruto's vision blackened as the man hit him on the back of the neck._

 _Shit…_

~:~

Naruto gasped as he woke up. Of course, he couldn't hear – this was a sensory deprivation room.

He tried everything, from yelling to crying to touching something to summoning healing chakra.

He didn't know why the memory he'd dreamed up bothered him so badly.

 _Don't make me bail you out again, stupid._

But… If that had really been _Reborn_ back then…

He shook his head. Now was the time to get the hell _out_ of this thing.

Light almost blinded Naruto as Tobi's Mokuton ability broke through the chamber.

"You idiots," Naruto said, rising fluidly. "You always forget to –"

He froze as that chill pervaded her being.

" _Hello, honey,"_ Momoshiki smiled at her darkly. "You ready to finish this?"

Naruto swallowed.

"Not really, _babe,"_ he said in Italian, sticking his tongue out at Momoshiki. Momoshiki frowned.

Naruto took that as his chance and ran.

~:~

" _YOU'RE IN LEAGUE WITH A GENOCIDAL MANIAC, AND YOU THINK TAKING THE VONGOLA RINGS IS BAD?!"_

To be fair, Naruto had just entered the lab as Irie Shoichi was killing two Cervello, and had glimpsed the Vongola Rings with her exceptional eyesight.

"Naruto," began Reborn, only for Naruto to _snarl,_ her eyes crimson.

"No," she rasped around slightly elongated incisors. " _No._ They've allied themselves with _Momoshiki."_

"Ah – Byakuran-san he was the only one you could never defeat," Shoichi said. "He said he pulled someone from another dimension here, too."

"He's not wrong," Naruto spat. "But I'm bound by two things. One, this damn pacifier. And two, the fact I won't use my full power against him."

"Maybe it's time you did," Shoichi said, sweating as Naruto turned her glare onto him.

Everyone in the room stared as Naruto trembled.

"You have no idea what he's done," Naruto whispered, her bangs shadowing her eyes. "He destroyed my homeland."

"He has shown his abilities –"

"Are _shit_ when it comes to the sun," Naruto snapped. "You think he's a scary shinobi? That _person_ is less human than _I_ am, and that's saying something."

"Gomen!" Shoichi looked petrified. "You, Hibari-san and Tsuna-san agreed that this was the best way to defeat Byakuran!"

"I don't think I was too concerned with Byakuran," Naruto snapped at the man.

~:~

"The Arcobaleno Trials," announced Reborn. "We haven't ever done them before, but it would be best if you could get the Varia here."

"What, put a fake assassination job up on their website?" Naruto snarked, now back in her baby form.

"Why not? Assassinating _you_ would be a chore for all of them… Xanxus would even try to kill you," Colonello said dryly. "If what you said is true, anyway, _kora_."

"What, that I trained Xanxus? Of course I did. For about one and a half years. I didn't make _that_ much of an impression on him," Naruto scoffed.

"Tch. That's a lie," Lal said. "He picked up your drinking habit. You might want to make sure he hasn't died of alcohol poisoning, at least."

"I'll be back from Italy in two days," Naruto said, an irk mark appearing as Lal smirked. Naruto turned away from the other three Arcobaleno, but stopped short and punched the air.

Skull appeared from nowhere, shrieking as he flew and collided with the wall. " _Itai!"_ the former stuntman yelled.

"Don't try to sneak up on me, Skull," Naruto said with zero emotion. "I'll be back in two days to give my trial to Tsuna."

Naruto walked away.

~:~

" _I'd like you to teach my son."_

 _A single blue eye opened, hazed over with alcohol (Vongola Nono assumed it was alcohol, anyway…)._

" _Why me? Why now?" the slurring Arcobaleno asked._

" _You're the only one here. I'd ask the Sun Arcobaleno, but he's taken to roaming around the world just like you did."_

 _The baby fumbled around for a container, then, finding one full of her preferred drink, chugged it._

" _Sounds like that asshole," Naruto mused after lowering the bottle. "Aright, I'll teach the damn brat. Just don't take 'way my poison stash."_

 _The Ninth sweatdropped._

 _~"~_

" _Oi, Vongola brat." Xanxus looked up, glaring at the Arcobaleno. "I'm your new teacher."_

" _Why do I need trash as my teacher?"_

" _Oh, Xan-xan," she said with a smile, jumping off the wall. "Lesson one."_

 _Xanxus faceplanted, the force of her kick digging his face into the dirt._

" _Don't call me trash, fucking brat."_

 _~"~_

" _VOI! What are you doing to Xanxus?!"_

" _Educating him about alcohol," Naruto groaned. "I… was. Hmm." She opened her eyes to see the white-haired kid staring at her with wide eyes. "Not, actually, drinking alcohol."_

 _She eyed the unconscious and snoring Xanxus, kicking him awake._

" _Wake up, brat."_

 _~"~_

" _And what would_ you _know about family? You damn Arcobaleno are unflappable! You're not_ human!"

 _Xanxus panted from the effort._

 _Naruto set, for the first time, her newest mix of poison down._

" _My entire country was destroyed by a maniac who wants to kill me," Naruto said, the dull pain threatening to swallow her up. Xanxus dropped the papers, looking shocked. "I never got to say goodbye to them._ They _were my family. And you know what else? I never knew my blood family." Naruto smiled, wiping her face. "My parents were killed by an impossible being, and my clan was wiped out decades ago. Sure, I don't know how it feels to be adopted, but hell, when I was a kid I would've been grateful for adoption."_

 _Naruto hopped up and got in Xanxus' face._

" _So suck it up, look him in the eyes, and don't fuckin' back down," she ordered him. "Just to make sure he won't react badly, I'll go to him first."_

 _He reacted badly._

 _~"~_

" _I'm Naruto," she introduced to her neighbor._

" _S-sawada Tsunayoshi," the teen said, staring at her for a long moment. "You're not a normal baby, are you?"_

" _Nope, I'm a demon from the mafia," Naruto said in a bland tone, smiling up at him._

 _Not five seconds afterwards Tsuna screamed and ran away as black mists entered her vision._

" _Bermuda!" she turned and greeted the head of the Vendicare Prison._

"Are you breaking –"

" _For the last time,_ NO."

" _No need to yell," the child mumbled. "You're fucking annoying."_

" _Shut the hell up. Was there something you needed?"_

" _Yes, actually." Bermuda smiled at her from under the bandages. "You saw Viper before you left, did you not?"_

" _Viper smuggled me out," Naruto replied. "They didn't tell me where Xanxus was."_

" _Oh, he was enduring a fate better than yours. Anyway, let's go."_

" _Where?"_

" _Off to see the world!"_

~:~

Naruto slammed the Varia mansion doors open. "OI, XAN-XAN!"

A sword narrowly missed her face, but Naruto only scoffed and jumped up onto the railing. "Squalo, you've let your training slow."

"Why you –" The loudest Mafia member lunged out, being pulled back by the Lightning idiot.

"I don't have time to mess around with you, I have to be back in Japan by Friday," Naruto growled. "So either get me Xanxus _now,_ or tell him I'm going to kill all of you until he does –"

A shot narrowly missed her ear.

"Naruto-sensei," Xanxus said, his gun smoking. "You're growing careless in your old age."

An irk mark attached itself to her forehead.

"Old… Age?"

And just like that, three more join the single irk mark and Naruto opened blazing ruby eyes.

" _OLD AGE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!"_

Xanxus gulped before turning tail.

A swirling, blue ball of pure energy put itself together in the tiny baby's hands.

"I'LL SHOW YOU _OLD AGE, TEME!"_

She raced after him, the swirling ball of energy cupped in her hand.

~:~

"-called me _old_ and I decided to _Rasengan_ his ass!" Naruto ranted to Aria over the phone. "Honestly, who does he think he is, a mafia boss or something?"

" _VOI!_ Boss is the leader of the Var –"

Naruto threw a kunai, pinning the loudmouth to the wall.

"You're on a fucking plane, asshole, so shut the hell up," she snarled at him.

Speaking of the plane, most of the other members on it were just trying not to stare at the baby with strange skills and a cell phone to her ear.

" _He IS the leader of the Varia,"_ Aria said, amusement in her tone. " _Yuni, don't – no, Yuni, not the poison! Naruto, when you're finished with your current job, you need to get your ass over here and take your stash of poison, because I'm running out of places to hide – GAMMA, YOU BETTER NOT DRINK THAT SHIT, IT'S LITERAL POISON!"_

Aria hung up, probably to save her daughter's guardian.

"I don't want Yuni-chan to die," Naruto mused. "Ah, well, I spared her life once. It's on her if –"

Her phone rang, and Naruto accepted it.

"Yes?"

" _If you think for a second to let my daughter die by drinking your damn poison –"_

"I wasn't thinking that at all," Naruto eyesmiled. "I was only trying to get you to call me back. It's terribly boring –"

 _Click._

"Eh? Aria-chan?" Naruto pouted. "Dammit, I wanted to talk to her more."

" _Naruto-kun."_

Naruto jolted, standing up in her seat and listening.

There was _no_ way. There was no _fucking way_ that Itachi was still alive.

~:~

"I must be going crazy."

In her mind, Sasuke blinked at her.

"So you heard my brother's voice. So what?"

"Sasuke, Itachi is _dead,_ like everyone else but Skull and I," Naruto pointed out, annoyed.

"Yeah, well. Not everyone stays dead in our world." His pointed look made her glare at him.

"And whose fault is _that?"_ she asked, giving him a fake smile before dropping it.

Sasuke sighed. "I know. I know it's my fault you can't die. How have you been faring otherwise? It's been a while since we talked – that training room incident and then our people –" his breath caught.

Naruto swallowed. "Th- thirty years since the training room. I've been cursed again."

She told him, with a tiny grin, of her new curse.

"Wow," he said at length. "That Kawahira dude is fucked _up."_

"He told me that the world was founded with the tri-ni-sette ore in it, and the Mare rings, Vongola rings, and these pacifiers were basically keeping the world together." She materialized her pacifier, frowning as Sasuke took one look at it and began snickering. "What?"

"You have to wear a _pacifier?_ Can you actually _use_ it as a pacifier?"

"It would be oddly appropriate," Naruto mused, "if we were _actually_ babies."

She clapped a hand over her mouth as Sasuke stopped laughing – and then _howled._

"You're _babies?!_ Gods _above_ I want to see that!"

Naruto blushed in embarrassment.

~:~

"Oi, brat." Xanxus hit his unconscious teacher with his gun.

His teacher opened her eyes, annoyance sparking in them for a moment before she tilted her head.

"We're landing."

"It's a bit early to land, isn't it?" Mammon appeared next to them, though Naruto didn't jump Xanxus had the feeling she inwardly did. "I'll check it out."

"Vi – _Mammon,_ you can die easier than I can."

His ex-teacher vanished, there was a loud _pop_ sound in everyone's ears, and then the Sky was back.

"No, we're here. I mean, sure, not in Namimori, but I guess this plane wasn't supposed to go all the way to Namimori."

"Um…" Mammon seemed slightly annoyed. "Naruto, those are the elite Japanese task force designed to catch killers."

"So, are they here for us, who all traveled under our real names, or someone else, who traveled under a fake name?" Naruto smiled brilliantly.

"Out of all of us on this plane, Sensei, you and Viper are the only ones who don't have a full background."

"That, and we're _babies,"_ Viper pointed out.

"Let's take advantage of that, then," Naruto said with an edged grin. "OI, KNIFE BOY! YOU'RE GOING TO PRETEND TO BE MY OLDER BROTHER!"

"I hate this idea already," Xanxus grumbled.

~:~

The elite task force sent to find an Italian fugitive eyed the people getting off the plane with interest.

"You sure that he was getting off this plane?"

"'Course I was, moron."

There was an Italian group that, ordinarily, they would have skipped over, but knowing Italy actually _did_ have underground mafia groups, didn't – at first sight – dismiss.

Of course, the two babies were odd, since both of them were held in awkward fashions and had scowls on their faces, but otherwise, one of the women in the elite squad actually _patted_ the head of one of the babies and didn't die, so…

" _VOI,_ can we just get out of here?!" exploded the long-haired man.

"Shut up, shark trash." The man with the feathers in his hair spoke out of the corner of his mouth, glaring hatefully at the baby in his arms. "I am _not_ paying Mammon for this."

"Can we go soon, honey?" a man with a flamboyant hairstyle said with a smile, staring at one of the elite squad's members with a bit _too_ much interest.

"Yeah, you're free to go," the squad man said with a grunt. "Where're you headed, if it's not to much to ask?"

"Hosenka, _ushishishi,"_ the creepy blonde child with the blonde baby in his arms said. "I heard there was an amazing hot spring there, _ushishishishi."_

"And we _didn't_ make the trip from Italy for your dumbass desire to go to a damn _hot spring,"_ the man with the feathers snapped.

"No, we're going to Nami –"

The weirdo with the weird-shaped beard shut up as the flamboyant man laughed and leaned on the his shoulder.

"Ah, yes… We're going to Namikuni! Land of waves, right?"

The yellow-haired baby grunted for some reason, the blonde child shaking her.

"I would kill all of you, but it'd be too much of a hassle to clean up all the blood," the man with feathers said blandly. "Now let's go, or the baby trash is going to lose all hope."

"You never said _why_ we were going to that idiot's place, not after he so thoroughly beat you before."

"Do I _need_ a reason, Levi?"

"No, boss!"

"That's what I thought."

~:~

" _Lussuria!"_ Naruto's Sky Flames, unable to manifest properly, batted against Lussuria's, causing her to gulp as Wrath Flames emitted

"Yes, Sky-chan?"

" _Nami no Kuni_ is the proper name for the _Land of Waves,"_ Naruto said after a moment, her Sky Flames losing its Wrath feeling.

"Hai, Sky-chan!" The tiny Sky huffed out a breath and vanished from her seat in the limo.

What with the tiny person's ability to vanish from inside a plane and then be back in the space of a few seconds, nobody commented on the fact she'd vanished from a moving car.

"Lussuria."

Her boss' voice brought Lussuria's attention.

"Don't ever say words like that in her presence. It could spell your end."

Lussuria nodded.

"Hai, boss!"

~:~

"I'm here." Naruto's lack of dramatics suggested the youngest Arcobaleno was thinking deeply about something.

"Ready to test Tsuna? He's failed my test."

Naruto eyed him. "No, he hasn't."

Tsuna blinked. "But, Reborn said –"

"Reborn is an asshole, and therefore shouldn't have even been involved with you before the Trials," Naruto said flatly. "He failed you because he didn't want to seem like he was picking his student. It wouldn't be fair."

"But then –"

"It's up to the Sky to order me to give him the Seal," Reborn said flatly, staring at Naruto. "I won't do it otherwise."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"I order you to give him the Seal," she declared.

Reborn huffed, but a tiny smirk came onto his face.

"And now?" Tsuna eyed her, hope in his face.

Naruto eyed him critically. "I want to see you free Mukuro."

There was a dead silence.

"I want you," she said, leaning forward into Tsuna's personal space, "to convince the leader of Vendicare that Mukuro doesn't deserve to be there."

Reborn's smirk had vanished. "Mukuro broke –"

"He actually didn't," Naruto said flatly, smirking at Reborn. "Mukuro did not break Omerta, and I look forward to your explanation to Bermuda-san."

"But how – how do I get him here?" Tsuna squeaked.

 _Honestly, the fact he's willing to do it would be enough. But… I suppose it would be entertaining to see him free Mukuro._

Naruto closed her eyes to focus, seeking her suppressed bond with Bermuda.

The chilly mist chilled Naruto to the bone. It was simply a theatrical gesture.

" _Why have you summoned me here, Sky?"_

"I – she summoned you here for me!" Tsuna said, looking terrified.

"I did," Naruto acknowledged. "He has a request for you, Bermuda-kun."

Bermuda flicked her, sending her flying.

It was moments like this Naruto wished Kia was with her and not 'doing her own thing' as the tiny fox tended to do.

Naruto slammed into the wall, Bermuda's strength augmented by his Mist power.

And the fact he was the oldest Arcobaleno.

" _What is it you want, Vongola Decimo?"_

Tsuna activated Hyper Dying Will mode. Naruto sweatdropped – Bermuda was _not_ that scary.

"I want you to release Rokudo Mukuro." His calm voice held no reservations. "Mukuro-san was unaware of Omerta. And technically, he did not involve those not already involved."

Okay, that was a kind of lie, as Naruto _had_ heard Mukuro had kicked most of Namimori Middle's high school population's boxing club _and_ disciplinary members, but considering Sasagawa Ryohei's abilities as a Sun and the fact that ten years into the future Naruto was pretty certain that most of the disciplinary committee of Namimori was active in the Vongola… Well, to _that_ extent, no, Mukuro _didn't_ involve those not yet involved with the mafia.

" _I will not speak of this with you with my two fellow Arcobaleno in the room."_

With a flick of his hand, Naruto and Reborn were dropped into black mists.

~:~

With two identically loud _thuds,_ both Arcobaleno noticed that they were adults, still had their pacifiers, and were –

" _Shimatta!"_ Naruto took Reborn and dived forwards, out of the way of a katon jutsu.

"Did he just _time travel us?"_ Reborn looked highly unsettled.

"Apparently, he can do that," Naruto said, remembering the whole Mafia Land thing. "And, by the way, I think we're in the middle of the _Uchiha Clan's_ land, so _don't_ look into their eyes!"

She jumped, Reborn still in her arms.

"This is undignified," she heard him snap as the wind rushed by.

"Would you rather be _undignified,_ or _dead?"_ she snapped, jumping and landing in a clearing where hundreds of shinobi sat, staring at them.

Naruto dropped Reborn with a squeak of surprise as her face turned red.

"Oh, shit," she squeaked in Italian before grabbing Reborn and jumping again, putting a little too much chakra in it and crashing headfirst into trees. _"Shit!"_ she shouted as trees began moving to entrap them. "Why are you so damn heavy?" she snapped at Reborn.

"Why did you _drop me?!"_ he yelled at her, reverting to Italian as well.

"You would do the same if you'd just appeared at your village's founding with two of the _hottest_ men on the planet!" Naruto yelled, slipping back into Japanese, face burning red. She stopped, taking a breath, and let him down. "Gods above, first I use my _Rasengan_ and now I'm here." She paced on the tree branch, trying to think. "How will Bermuda find us? He doesn't even – I don't know what to do!"

She was hyperventilating.

"Calm down," her Sun instructed. "Seriously. How much changes since the founding of your village and when –?" he went quiet, since it was a sensitive subject for her.

"Well, for starters, there's three shinobi wars and then our war, so that's four wars in the span of eighty or so years," Naruto said, taking a deep breath. "Adding into the equation that that was only the _alliance_ back there… Shit. Shit. _Shit!"_ She started cursing in English, then in Spanish, then in Italian.

Reborn looked amazed at her ability to rant so fervently.

"Naruto, _shut up and stop cursing,_ and _tell me_ what's wrong."

She stopped for a moment. "What's wrong? What's _wrong?!_ I have the chance… I have the chance to end all the suffering –"

Before Reborn could tell her what a _bad_ idea her idea was, a blade hit her in the shoulder.

"Shit!"

Reborn would've smacked her for using such language, but he was busy trying not to freak out as she carried him, _again,_ away from the duo chasing them.

"They're faster than I am!" she called over the wind.

"How is that –"

"I'm not used to this height, I have to constantly re-adjust my chakra outage to jump!"

Reborn could understand that, even if he was still kind of in awe at her ability to jump from tree to tree.

" _Don't_ shoot them, either!"

"You can heal 'em, right?"

" _NOT IF THEY'RE DEAD!"_

~:~

"Okay, look! We're not trying to do anything."

The blonde ninja was slowly going red from where Hashirama had her in his Mokuton hold; the other, the one with a _blankness_ in him, sighed and glanced to the blonde.

"You're paying for my –" he said a word that sounded made up.

"Oh, go screw yourself," the woman snapped, turning her face to Hashirama, who sweatdropped as she stuck her tongue out at them.

"Okay, who are you?"

Intense… Anger was directed at Madara. "None of your business, _Uchiha,"_ she sneered. "And I swear to Inari-sama, if you try to use your Sharingan on me I'll kill you."

There was no doubting her words, until the other man spoke.

"You really can't, timewise."

"I _know,_ Reborn!"

"Great, you gave them my name."

"I actually didn't," the woman said. "My name's Naruto, by the way. I claim asylum on grounds that you and the Uzumaki are allied with each other."

"And how would you know this?" Madara rumbled, taking another step forward.

Her clear blue eyes never left Hashirama's.

"Because I am an Uzumaki from the future." Her eyes were fierce. "And I can prove it, too."

~:~

"You're a damn idiot! What if history changed?"

"Bermuda will send us back without us making too much of a dent," Naruto replied, pulling her legs to her chest and sighing. "Now I have to _prove_ my ancestry. Thank gods Mito-sama is here."

Reborn rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea what you're doing."

"Of course I _don't!"_ Her exclamation was punctuated by her leaping to her feet. "I don't know – _I don't know what to do in these kinds of situations!_ Back then, when Bermuda sent me _forward_ in time, I had _no idea_ of what was in store for me, only that _you_ didn't even know I was alive! I had to _preserve_ the future, so I never returned until well past Mafia Land! That's _all_ I did – as soon as I heard about Mafia Land, I rushed back to Japan where my bond with you led me. And now, I'm in the past of my own _village_ and I'm _trying_ not to screw it up, because I _know_ what happens and I _can't do a damn thing about it!"_

She panted. Luckily, she'd spoken in Italian.

"And no, I'm not owing you a damn _fedora."_

The door slid open, and a redheaded woman appeared.

"Where is this proof?" Mito asked, her eyes boring into Naruto's own.

Naruto held out her arm, pulling her orange sleeve up. Biting her thumb and wiping it on a particular spot, out came a weapon wrapped in white.

Slowly, Naruto unwound the hilt.

She didn't move it further.

"I will not unsheathe this blade while I have no intention of spilling blood," Naruto said clearly. "It has many forms, depending on the person wielding it. It usually comes to me as a _naginata."_ She focused, and the _naginata_ appeared, the blade wrapped.

However, the wraps that held the beautiful weapon had changed, too, to match the blade in its katana form. It took on a fan-like quality, with artwork – and Mito gasped.

"The _fan to burēdo,"_ Mito realized.

"Yep." Naruto placed the blade on her arm, and the weapon was sealed back up. There was a silence. "Okay, no offense –"

Mito leaned up close. "How did you come by –"

"My father was a Senju, my mother an Uzumaki," Naruto snapped, pushing the first jinchuuriki away. "I don't – I've never used it and I've never trained for a _naginata,_ okay? I'm never going to."

"You will have to use the fan," Mito said quietly.

Naruto hesitated.

"Mito-san, don't tell anyone who I am," Naruto said. "Don't let Madara or Hashirama try to find us, okay?"

She saw Reborn watching.

"And –" She hesitated. "You'll see a girl, and she'll be the second – the second of what you're going to be."

"Naruto," Reborn started.

Naruto ignored him.

"Don't tell her anything, just say that – just say that her daughter will love her, no matter what."

There were tears for moments like these.

Mito's eyes were wide and curious.

"And – and my father, you'll –"

" _Naruto,"_ warned Reborn.

"This is one of my only chances, Reborn!" She was crying now, and Reborn's eyes widened. "Tell my father I love him, please. You'll know who he is," Naruto assured Mito.

"I will," she promised, just as Bermuda's mist yanked them back into their time, but Naruto's home.

And she cried.

It was similar to a baby's cry, but different enough that it gathered the attention of the Varia.

Reborn had no idea how to react.

~:~

" _What the fuck?"_

 _The fourteen-year-old ninja certainly had a mouth._

" _Don't bother trying to move. Your sensei hired me to keep you safe for the next month and a half."_

 _He had explosives placed everywhere on this disposable property. Hauling her had been easy – she was barely 100 pounds._

" _Jiraiya?" she sounded out of it, loopy._

" _Yeah. Sorry about the whole mysterious thing, kid."_

" _I'm fourteen!"_

" _Yeah, you're a kid."_

 _He turned to look at her._

" _You're only, what, ten years older than I am?"_

" _Eight," he admitted. "I'm twenty-two."_

" _I'm not a kid, then!" Her blue eyes challenged him._

" _Yeah, you're a kid, still."_

 _She scowled petulantly. "Fuck you," she said, sounding less loopy._

 _He shot her with one of his tranquilizer darts, with enough tranq to take down a freakin' elephant._

 _She seemed to be able to resist it, her eyes drooping just enough to let him know it worked faster in her system than it did in ordinary peoples'._

 _(He wasn't surprised.)_

" _Why would Jiraiya hire a civilian?"_

" _In my world I'm a hitman, kid."_

" _I said I'm not a_ kid!" _Her eyes flashed legitimate red._

" _And I said you_ are, _you annoying, troublesome brat. Now do you_ want _me to shoot you or what?"_

 _He aimed his gun at her._

 _She blinked at the gun._

" _You do know that I could probably run out of here before your civilian finger is able to squeeze that thing, right?"_

 _He smirked at her. "I have excellent eyesight and I_ never _miss, kid."_

 _She gulped._

 _His smirk widened as she remained where she was._

~:~

"I just wanted them to know I loved them," she admitted to Reborn not long after she'd stopped crying.

"I know," Reborn said to her. "You don't need to worry about them. They probably know."

She smiled despite herself and jumped up. "Tsuna! If Bermuda let us back here, then Tsuna either failed or completed my trial!"

"You were going to give him the seal anyway, weren't you?" deadpanned Reborn.

"Yep!" Naruto seemed to sparkle in that moment. "But… I can't go with you, Reborn." She wasn't being stubborn – her adult self could (hopefully) handle what she'd started. "And I think… I think Shoichi-san knows that. I have a different job to do."

~:~

"This isn't a good idea." It wasn't the first time Skull had said that, and it most certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Skull, I'm not asking permission from you to hunt down my enemy and kill him, I'm asking if you want to come so that I remember _why_ I'm still trying to kill him," she bluntly said, zipping up her duffel bag full of weapons.

Skull took a deep breath, then nodded. "Alright, fine! Oodaku!" His giant octopus moved silently behind them, looming over them. "Let's take my blimp."

"Okay," Naruto said, completely agreeable.

Skull looked at her suspiciously. "You were aiming for that?"

"I don't have a subtle bone in my body," Naruto admitted with a bright smile.

They got to his blimp.

~:~

Well under way, Naruto closed her eyes to get some shut eye.

" _And you know what, girl?" Madara pulled her chin forward. "It's so entertaining, watching you and your pathetic class of shinobi fight – even when you're not the one fighting!"_

 _She spat in his face. It flew through and landed on the opposite wall._

" _You're using the statue to kill them, though," she countered. "How… Pathetic of_ you, _really. You could've avoided this whole thing if you'd used common sense, asshole!"_

 _With one well-practiced move, Naruto had her thighs on the man and attempted to break his neck._

 _Like she knew he would, he phased through._

" _Looks like we need to restrict your movement even further," he said, walking backwards. "Kabuto, do the honors, would you?"_

 _Kabuto bowed his head._

 _Naruto watched him warily as Madara moved away._

 _Kabuto met her eyes._

" _I would rather kill her. I'm rather bored," Kabuto mused. "We'd only have to wait four more years to do that."_

" _I really don't give a fuck. If she dies, she kills the rest of the army," Madara flicked his hand before dematerializing._

 _Quick, like a snake, Kabuto's hand covered in chakra flashed out, his smirk widening._

 _Naruto closed her eyes – rather ungracefully hitting the dirt as a result._

" _Anko-chan, give her a hand, would you?" Kabuto turned away as Naruto was helped by the snake woman, who looked pale but otherwise unharmed._

" _Why?" Naruto asked as Anko lifted her up. "Why help us?"_

" _I owe a lot to you, Naruto-chan." Kabuto turned yellow eyes on her. "After all, it was your copy that told Itachi-san where I was. Question is, why not tell him where you were?"_

 _Naruto smiled faintly. "Selfishness isn't an attractive trait."_

~:~

She jerked awake.

 _If only Obito hadn't done that… Momoshiki wouldn't be our enemy._

"Naruto, looks like New York is a prime target for activity that's not human… Monitoring chakra residue. Wow."

Naruto leaned over, looking at the console.

"Holy shit. Guess there _was_ some truth that Kaguya came from another – _Skull, what the fuck is that?!"_

Her hand waved to the ship passing next to them.

"Not good," Skull replied grimly, taking in the sigil. "These assholes tried taking this thing down once before. Oodaku, speed up!"

There was a mild jolt.

"Activate reflection panels! Full silence, save for the chakra monitor!"

Every panel turned black-and-white as everything electronic died.

Naruto's wide eyes watched the ship pass by.

~:~

The purple blimp passed without real notice. If a guy hadn't been playing a video game, he would've raised the alarm about one of his boss' possible allies.

~:~

"Assuming everything is correct, Momoshiki should be in New York. Which sucks for us, because we're going to be in a hotspot of humanity," Skull said, looking troubled.

Naruto frowned. "Most likely he'll try to draw chakra out from them. Sadly, chakra's not exactly in _people,_ it's basically the atmosphere." Naruto frowned, shaking her head. "Okay, it's life energy. Better description."

"Which means that he can probably suck the life energy out of any random human. Luckily, I think we can fix that." Skull turned to her, his big purple eyes calculating. "If we have Mammon broadcast an alarm, making people get out…"

"Or we use Mist Flames," Naruto said, cutting him off. "Let them think it's their own choice."

"We're going to need a pretty damn powerful Mist," Skull said, frowning. "And Dokuro Chrome's the only one we know."

Naruto shivered. "Unless Mammon can give us the location of another Mist who could help."

~:~

Daemon Spade eyed the two Arcobaleno poring over an electronic map.

"I don't think that Mammon's guide will get here." The Sky Arcobaleno sounded disappointed.

"I trust Mammon. They've been helpful."

"If he doesn't come, then I've just spent six thousand on trying to get a Mist that actually _wants_ to avoid collateral damage."

Daemon coughed politely.

"You requested my presence?" he asked, smiling at them as politely as he could.

"AIIEEEE!"

The Sky jumped and vanished within a millisecond of seeing Daemon.

"Who are you?" asked the Cloud Arcobaleno, glaring at him.

"I am Daemon Spade," he introduced. "Ghost."

" _GHOST!"_ The Sky's terrified shout met their ears.

"Oh, dear," Skull sighed. "Did Mammon tell you what we wanted?"

"Among other things," Daemon nodded. "I will do what I can to help."

He was bound by Mammon's contract, expertly written up.

(He regretted one thing. _Not reading that damn contract all the way through.)_

~:~

Tsuna coughed in pain. Byakuran sighed and rolled his shoulders.

"Well, now…" Byakuran smiled. "You really need to stop meddling in stuff, dear one."

Tsuna furrowed his brows as Byakuran snapped his fingers. A pulse of Sky Flames seemed to _ping_ off of the pacifier, of which its owner appeared, glaring at him.

It was odd to see such an expression on her face. Or, you know, her as an adult _period._ Tsuna was already too used to her being a baby.

"I know," Naruto responded tightly. "You can feel it too."

"Yes," Byakuran smiled amicably. "I can See it, too. Your past self… Trying to destroy Momoshiki once and for all."

"My idiocy knows no bounds."

"What –" Tsuna coughed. "What happens if she succeeds?"

Byakuran chuckled. "Oh, she won't. Now, shall we resume our battle, Tsu-kun?"

Tsuna's eyes blazed with rage.

" _Don't call me that!"_

~:~

Naruto stood on top of the tallest skyscraper. Wind howled around them.

" _MOMOSHIKI, COME OUT."_

Her voice, amplified by chakra, boomed across New York City, shattering windows.

Skull, having chakra of his own, had skedaddled.

Good thing, too.

Momoshiki's presence appeared right behind her.

"Hello, lover," he whispered. "Did you enjoy that little show I gave you a few years ago?"

She whirled, and his thumb was on her forehead, throwing her into the hell of that time.

~:~

In various time zones, the Arcobaleno stopped, their eyes wide and feeling everything their Sky was, forced to by the deep connection Naruto had forged with them.

Even Tsuna was forced to his knees, forced to visit the memory in the middle of a battle that was life or death.

~:~

" _Finally!" Naruto stared at her land with a smile._

 _A lone figure stood at the end of the dock, and Naruto's eyes widened as Momoshiki touched the earth under him._

 _In an instant, the land – as far as she could see – was black._

 _And then it vanished._

 _Not even her clan island remained._

 _Momoshiki's voice whispered to her._

'This chakra is _mine._ Your people… _Mine.'_

 _She ran across the place where her home had once been, thinking, maybe it was just a seal._

 _She searched high and low, under the water and up in the sky –_

 _-until Checkerface appeared._

" _Naruto. You should've wait –"_

 _His eyes widened at the space where her country should've been._

" _They're here somewhere, right?" Naruto refused to believe they were gone. "Because they can't…" She swallowed thickly. "They can't be gone – they're not, I just have to find them."_

" _Naruto…" Checkerface closed his eyes. "I'm afraid they're gone."_

" _NO." Wrath Flames flared up, protecting her. "No." She settled into a stage of denial. "They're not gone. They're NOT."_

~:~

"Pathetic."

Naruto trembled, scared beyond belief. How could she think that she could win?

"You're just trash! Trash that will be absorbed into me, giving me power."

Naruto eyed his hand in the reflection, getting closer all the time.

 _To fail a mission is to be trash,_ an old friend had once said to her. _To fail to save your comrades is to be worse than trash._

"To think I was going to use the purple one."

She jerked in surprise, looking behind Momoshiki.

Skull lay there, crumpled and unmoving.

"You made a mistake," she said, steadily, his hand stopping once more.

"And what would that be, dear?"

She met Momoshiki's eyes, anger pouring out of hers.

"You just got me pissed off."

~:~

Reborn readied himself to intervene.

If Tsuna didn't get ahold of himself, he was gonna –

Naruto jumped to Tsuna, placing a hand on his shoulder briefly and whispering something to him.

Tsuna jerked and raised his Flame-filled hands, blasting himself backwards.

"Naruto," Reborn said to her, speaking at normal volume. "Are you sure you want to –"

"Reborn…" Naruto's fist clenched. "I just learned something from Ginger Bread." She looked directly at Byakuran. "You killed Skull."

Reborn was about to pull out his gun when smoke poofed around him, and he was suddenly staring at Byakuran from a much higher vantage point.

He wasted no time, knowing Byakuran _had_ to have a backup plan for unexpected things.

" _Ciaosu,"_ Reborn smirked, firing his gun.

Byakuran managed to evade it, _just_ evade it, with wide panic in his eyes.

"Tsuna, Naruto! Time to do your duty!"

He fired again.

Tsuna and Naruto entered, Naruto yanking Tsuna out of the way of a bullet, only for Tsuna to push her out of a Flame burst from the opposing Sky.

And he thanked Naruto from the past for doing whatever the hell she/he was doing.

~:~

 _Drip, drip._

" _Gomen'ne,_ Kurama." She eyed the sleeping beasts in her mind. "But I need your power. Please, lend me your strength. I… Have to avenge them. The rest of the shinobi deserve to _rest,_ not be used as some power-source."

They'd been asleep for the past thirty years, never waking up in all that time. Maybe it had to do with the curse.

Naruto didn't know.

She eyed the last, the unknown.

"Juubi-san," she said, placing a hand on the massive, ten-tailed, wolf-like being. "Please lend me your power."

She allowed her chakra to resonate.

And his chakra, his name, his _power_ , moved through her.

~:~

Momoshiki's hand was stopped by a staff.

He looked down, into a pale face with three eyes. A Sharingan, a Rinnegan, and a Byakugan all shared the space as the Juubi jinchuuriki stared at him calmly.

The very _adult_ Juubi jinchuuriki.

"But –" he swallowed. "You vowed –"

"I never break a promise," Naruto said, staring at him, not moving. "And you'll notice that I say _I promise_ or _I vow_ when I mean it. Obviously, I didn't mean it, _dumbass,_ because I never said _either."_

She could feel her Harmonized elements in some sort of awed shock, and she saw a very adult Skull blinking.

She kicked Momoshiki before following him into the sky, her ability to fly sticking with her.

She materialized her family blade. It took the shape of a katana and a fan; Naruto unwrapped it and cut her arm a little, watching Momoshiki.

She let the sword drop in a calculated move, shoving Momoshiki aside when he attempted to reach it, knowing of its abilities.

It sank into the top of the tower's foundation.

"Useless," Momoshiki scoffed.

Naruto smirked.

The entire world lit up in a single seal, protecting the chakra-less.

"Now it's just you and I, Momoshiki- _kun,"_ Naruto purred, licking her lips. "I'm going to enjoy _ripping you apart!"_

They collided with rage.

~:~:~:~:~:~

 ***Claps* Yeah, next chapter will be the last. (Possibly.) If you have any requests of what you want to see in it, speak, because… It's clearly AU here, people, and I STILL haven't seen the ending of the anime, so don't sue me.**

 **Also, YES, I dropped hints that, in this universe, the Avengers exist. (New York, mentions of a giant flying ship and a guy playing a video game?)**

 **I didn't want this to be like a multifandom thing, which was why I didn't** _ **explicitly**_ **say anything like SHIELD or Fury, but if you're game for a sequel that includes KHR, Naruto,** _ **and**_ **the Avengers? Tell me and I** _ **might**_ **do it, cause if you know how many stories I have up you should also know I am a terrible procrastinator.**

 **Anyway, that's it for now! angelslaugh out!**

 **(Oh, and review please! Thank you!)**


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